Late last night, Jordy Mercer received the phone call that he has been waiting on his whole life. Mercer was making his way up to Pittsburgh for the first time. He arrived in Pittsburgh and got to the stadium around 3:00 p.m. where reporters were waiting for him.
“It’s a dream come true,” Mercer said. “Words can’t describe it. It’s something you dream of when you’re a little kid. It’s something special.”
For the past few weeks, Pirates fans have been clamoring for Mercer to make his debut to replace the struggling Clint Barmes. In 47 games in Triple-A Indianapolis, Mercer has a line of .303/.379/.419 with three home runs and 22 RBI. While that was enough to earn him a promotion, Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle said that he’s sticking with Barmes.
“Nothing has changed,” Hurdle said. “Barmes is our shortstop and we’ll find opportunities for Josh (Harrison) and Jordy (Mercer) to get involved. I talked to Clint today. Mercer was not brought up to replace him. I just feel it makes us a better ball club now.”
With the promotion of Mercer, the Pirates sent Yamaico Navarro to Triple-A.
“In Yamaico’s case, which those guys never get asked about, the kid needs to play,” Hurdle said. “We like him and we liked him a lot in spring training. We like the bat, the versatility and we weren’t getting him better in the role he was in.”
Although Mercer isn’t starting in his first day up, he’s excited for when that opportunity comes.
“Yeah of course, this is what you dream of to get in the game and make the most of it,” Mercer said. “Where they want to use me, I’m ready for it.”
Mercer said he didn’t make many changes from April to May where he really took off.
“Not really, I just tried to stay within myself,” Mercer said. “I wasn’t trying to do too much and worked hard with our hitting coach in Indianapolis.”
While he won’t start, Hurdle is still thrilled to have Mercer on the team.
“He’s had a very successful campaign to date,” Hurdle said. “His offensive game has picked up very well in the last month. We liked some of the things we saw in spring training. I think it was a young man still trying to find some things out and it got a little fast for him in spring training. He’s earned the opportunity.”
When Mercer got the news, he said he called his parents, but not his wife.
“I called my parents first obviously,” Mercer said. “My wife was with me so I didn’t have to call her. I was glad she was there with me. With my parents, it was pretty special.”
While #FreeJordyMercer has been trending on Twitter for the past week or so, it will still take another day or two until we see Mercer take the field.
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