Assigning Ñscar Mercado, a right-handed hitter who has played in parts of five MLB seasons, to a minor-league contract on Friday, the Detroit Tigers increased the depth of their outfield in Triple-A Toledo. Mercado, 29, hasn’t played in Major League Baseball this season but has experience at all three outfield positions, preferring to use center field.
Kerry Carpenter, Riley Greene, Parker Meadows, and Matt Vierling are the four outfielders for the Tigers that are in the major leagues; three of those outfielders are left-handed hitters. Prior to joining the Mud Hens, Mercado hit.226 with 11 home runs, 28 walks (9.1% walk rate), and 49 strikeouts (16% strikeout rate) across 78 games for Triple-A El Paso in the San Diego Padres organization. He was released by the Padres at the start of August.
Mercado, who represented Colombia in the 2017 and 2023 World Baseball Classic, has played in MLB for the Cleveland Guardians (2019-22), Philadelphia Phillies (2022) and St. Louis Cardinals (2023). He finished eighth in 2019 American League Rookie of the Year voting, hitting .269 with 15 homers in 115 games.
In his 20 games with the Cardinals in 2023, he made his final major league appearance, hitting.290 over 32 plate appearances with one walk and four strikeouts. During the latter innings, he was mostly used as a defensive replacement.
The Cardinals selected Mercado with the No. 58 overall pick in the 2013 draft out of Gaither High School in Tampa, Florida.
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