MLB World Reacts To Catcher’s Shocking Retirement News
On Wednesday night, Chicago White Sox rookie Yermin Mercedes took to Instagram to announce his retirement from the game of baseball. The 28-year-old catcher had recently been demoted to Triple-A after getting off to a red-hot start in his debut MLB season.
“It’s over,” he wrote across a blacked-out screen.
The emotional post indicated that Mercedes is “stepping aside” from baseball indefinitely following some recent unknown events. Likely referring to actions stemming from his recent demotion, he apologized to his team for “not accepting some of their decisions.”
“I want to apologize to all those who I inadvertently offended as a consequence of my immaturity like members of the radio, television, and press,” Mercedes wrote. “To all the team’s members where I was involved with, I’m sorry for failing as a human being and for not accepting some of their decisions. I’m stepping aside from baseball indefinitely.”
Earlier in the day, the Chicago rookie teased this decision with another post — writing “El Retiro” along with a thinking emoji.
NBC Sports White Sox Talk has reportedly reached out to a family member of Mercedes and said they “haven’t been able to get a hold of him.”
Mercedes burst onto the MLB scene this year in a way few ever have. Starting his rookie season with eight consecutive hits, the White Sox’ designated hitter broke the previous record of seven held by Cincinnati’s Chris Stynes back in 2007. Including a solo home run in his first at bat, he went 5-5 in his first career start, becoming the first player in MLB history to do so.
Behind this incredible play, Mercedes was awarded AL Player of the Week to open his career — logging five home runs and 16 RBIs on a blazing .415 BA through 22 games.
The exciting young talent also made waves across the league when he homered off position player Willians Astudillo on a 3-0 count, breaking the “unwritten rules” of baseball that his former manager Tony La Russa openly supports.
Unfortunately for Mercedes and the White Sox, this level of play wasn’t exactly sustainable. With his batting average dropping to .271, the rising-star rookie was sent packing back to the minors.
The MLB world took to Twitter to react to this shocking early retirement.
In an Instagram post, Yermin Mercedes, an April sensation with the Chicago White Sox, says he's stepping "away from baseball for a while … it's over."
Mercedes was sent to AAA earlier this month and had been playing well, hitting .309/.377/.655. pic.twitter.com/11P6EgpiKn
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 22, 2021
Chuck and Ozzie discuss Yermin Mercedes' Instagram post pic.twitter.com/4eDpV4Pnne
— White Sox Talk (@NBCSWhiteSox) July 22, 2021
Is that Yermin Mercedes Instagram post real? What the hell is going on?
— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) July 22, 2021
I will forever believe that Tony La Russa taking the Twins’ side against his own player led directly to the end of Yermin Mercedes’ career. It’s a dead straight trajectory and it’s an absolute shame.
— Jesse Spector (@jessespector) July 22, 2021
Yermin Mercedes before he hit a 3-0 homer off Willians Astudillo and Tony La Russa publicly condemned him on 5/18: .344/.396/.547, 6 HR in 139 PA
After 5/18: .190/.220/.196, 1 HR in 118 PA
Correlation doesn’t always equal causation but 🧐🤷🏻♂️ https://t.co/1Q9YL8CbLa
— Joon 이준엽 (@joonlee) July 22, 2021
Yermín Mercedes after having one cold streak: pic.twitter.com/zM6JRPTBfN
— 𝓗𝓸𝓸𝓭𝓲𝓮 🅱️𝓮𝓷𝓷𝔂👑🌊🎡 (@HoodieBoomstick) July 22, 2021
Happy retirement, Yermin Mercedes. pic.twitter.com/oH9EPOYDW3
— Danny Vietti (@DannyVietti) July 22, 2021
Yermin Mercedes deleted everything White Sox from his IG, and posted that he might be retiring. What 😭
— Fuzzy (@fuzzyfromyt) July 21, 2021
When Eloy Jimenez went down, SOMEONE needed to step up and Yermin Mercedes did that times ten. If the Chicago White Sox win the division by a fair amount, he deserves A LOT of that credit. He was better than Mike Trout for one month. I wish him well.
— Vinnie Parise (@VinnieParise) July 22, 2021
This Yermin stuff is so weird, I hope he’s alright mentally. He seemed like such a happy guy in the beginning of the season
— Mike (@ChiSoxFanMike) July 22, 2021
White Sox say they are aware of Yermín Mercedes’ instagram post, but at this point have not recieved any official notice from Mercedes of his future plans, and that he’s still part of the active roster at Class AAA Charlotte.
— James Fegan (@JRFegan) July 22, 2021
The White Sox, seemingly caught off guard by this news, released a statement.
“The White Sox are aware of tonight’s Instagram post by Yermín Mercedes, who is currently on the active roster of our Class AAA team in Charlotte, NC,” the team said. “At this point in time, the White Sox have not received any official notification from Yermín concerning his future plans.”
La Russa, who’s currently catching quite a bit of blame from fans, also shared his thoughts on Mercedes’ decision.
“I understand you’re in Triple-A, away from the big leagues, you can get emotional,” La Russa said. “Don’t know more than that. Will reach out to him. Could be just a little frustrated. I’ll try to explain to him that he has a big league future.”
The post MLB World Reacts To Catcher’s Shocking Retirement News appeared first on The Spun.
