Tag: Yermin Mercedes

Tim Anderson and Yermin Mercedes send not-so-cryptic tweets that could be responses to Tony La Russa

Oh boy.

Remember that thing we said about how Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa might drive a wedge between him and his players by supporting the Minnesota Twins throwing at Yermin Mercedes after his home run in a blowout (which La Russa keeps doubling down on)?

Yeah, it’s looking very possible at the moment.

An hour before first pitch in Wednesday’s White Sox and Twins tilt, shorstop Tim Anderson — known for both being good at baseball and for having fun doing so with some epic bat tosses — sent a tweet that sounds a lot like it could have been about La Russa that Mercedes responded to:

Mercedes also sent this Instagram story:

La Russa has to clear the air here. Players in 2021 want to have fun and grow the game by enjoying it. The so-called unwritten rules aren’t going to do either of those things.

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Tony La Russa wrongly doubles down on Yermin Mercedes supposedly breaking unwritten rules

C’mon!

Tony La Russa had another chance to get it right regarding Chicago White Sox DH Yermin Mercedes after the hitter belted a home run on a 47 MPH 3-0 pitch from Minnesota Twins position player Willians Astudillo in the middle of a blowout.

The White Sox manager had already expressed that he was upset with Mercedes’ “mistake” and spoke about “sportsmanship and respect” when it came to not swinging on a pitch like that late in a game that was out of hand. Then, he didn’t back Mercedes when the Twins threw at him in retaliation, saying, “I didn’t have a problem with how the Twins handled that.”

So with one more chance on Wednesday before another game against Minnesota to say he realized he made a mistake and should have shown some solidarity with his own player, he … doubled down:

Ugh. This can only further push the players away from the manager. At what point does that outweigh this feeling that La Russa has to uphold archaic unwritten rules?

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Tony La Russa made the biggest mistake being OK with Twins throwing at his own player Yermin Mercedes

Not a good move here.

We saw this coming with the Tony La Russa hire that had just about everyone from fans to MLB players questioning why the Chicago White Sox hired a very old school (and problematic) manager for a young, fun team.

Before Tuesday night’s game between the Sox and the Minnesota Twins, we saw La Russa call out his own player, Yermin Mercedes, for breaking a silly unwritten rule by hitting a home run on a very slow 3-0 pitch from Twins position player Willians Astudillo, who was on the mound because his team was getting blown out.

Then, La Russa took it a step further. After Twins pitcher Tyler Duffey threw behind Mercedes on Tuesday night in retaliation, La Russa said, “I didn’t have a problem with how the Twins handled that,” mainly because Duffey didn’t throw at Mercedes’ head.

This is by far the dumbest move La Russa can make. What Duffey did was dangerous (no matter where that ball was thrown) and an outdated form of revenge that should be taken out of baseball entirely. And even if La Russa qualified why he didn’t have a problem with it, it’s a great way to lose a clubhouse of players by NOT supporting Mercedes.

Heck, that might have already happened. Mercedes’ teammate Tim Anderson commented on an NBC Chicago Instagram post, and Mercedes responded:

See, that’s how you do it. And Sox pitcher Lance Lynn said this as well:

Right! This is such a dumb “controversy” that has now blown up to the point where La Russa looks like he doesn’t back his own players. Maybe he should remember that unwritten rule for managers instead of facing a group that might be furious with him.

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Nobody should be upset about Yermin Mercedes hitting a 47 MPH 3-0 pitch for a HR in a blowout

This is great! No controversy here!

I haven’t seen this become a big deal on the interwebs yet, and that’s the way it should stay.

But let’s break down what happened on Monday: the Chicago White Sox were in the middle of demolishing the Minnesota Twins in the ninth inning, up 15-4. The Twins had brought in position player Willians Astudillo to pitch, and you’ll recall he did the same earlier this season and threw a 46 MPH pitch for a strike.

White Sox DH Yermin Mercedes had a 3-0 count and saw a 47 MPH ball heading his way. So he did what any hitter would and should do to the pitch, even in a blowout: he hit a home run:

You can her the Twins’ broadcast expressing some unhappiness there, to which I say: there should be zero problem here. Home runs are awesome, even on 3-0, even against a position player pitching, even against one who throws pitches 47 MPH.

For one thing, Mercedes hasn’t gone yard since April 29. Maybe this is a confidence-builder for future games! For another, baseball is a game. Let’s have some fun here!

This is fantastic!! No problems here whatsoever.

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