Xmas extra special for Mercado -- and his mom

At this time last year, Oscar Mercado was a player in the Indians’ Minor League system who was trying to get noticed.

The club knew the type of defender they had traded for at the 2018 Trade Deadline and loved his above-average speed, but he was still unproven with his bat. He was attending swing camps in Cleveland to revamp that swing and hopefully find more success. A year later, Mercado will enjoy Christmas dinner with his family as a Major League Baseball player.

Even after an impressive Spring Training, Mercado ended up starting the year in Triple-A, but proved in 30 games that the six weeks in Arizona were not a fluke. The Indians needed outfield help and it was impossible to wait for Mercado any longer. The kid that was hitting .294 with an .891 OPS got the call to the big leagues on May 14. Indians manager Terry Francona mentioned that it could be a quick visit to the Major League level for Mercado, but the outfielder never gave the club a chance to send him back down.

Now, after a successful rookie season of highlight-reel catches and big hits, Mercado has returned to his home in Florida. After being the center of attention for the majority of the Tribe’s season, that spotlight has now followed him into the offseason, as friends and family are always prepared with a list of questions to learn all about his new big league lifestyle. And he doesn’t expect his annual Christmas trip home to his native country, Colombia, to go any differently. Mercado recently joined MLB.com to discuss his favorite holiday traditions, his first Christmas as a Major Leaguer and his favorite moments of his rookie campaign.

MLB.com: What’s your favorite holiday tradition you have with your family?

Mercado: My mom's birthday is on Christmas. So on the 24th we always stayed up past 12 a.m. and we would always sing to my mom “Happy Birthday,” which not many people really get to experience. So we’d sing my mom “Happy Birthday” and then we’d always open presents after 12 a.m. on the 24th, so technically it was the 25th.

MLB.com: How big are your get-togethers?

Mercado: It's pretty big. So here in the States, it's only me, my parents and my brother and sister. Then my uncle is really close by. He's got three kids. They're a little younger than us. And so we always do Thanksgiving with family and friends and then when we go to Colombia, [there's] my grandpa, my aunt -- my mom’s sister -- and her three kids. And then my dad's side, all his family comes from all the different cities in Colombia. … So it's a lot of juggling a lot of different family members when we’re over there.

MLB.com: Have they all seen you since you got called up to the big leagues?

Mercado: No, not all of them have. My grandpa came into town and then my uncle came to New York. So they saw me play. … No one from my dad’s side has been able to make it. It'll be interesting. It’ll be kind of a hassle answering so many questions about the season because you feel like when you're home, friends and other people that you hang out with are always asking, "So how's this? How's that? How's everything?" and then you kind of think you're going to get past that when it’s your family but no, they're the ones that ask the most.

MLB.com: When you do get asked about your first season, how do you describe it?

Mercado: It was everything you dream of when you're coming up and when you're a little kid and to me that's like the best way to tell them. It’s like when you wake up and you have a trip planned and you get super excited. You’re like, ‘Oh my God, I’m going here and it’s going to be exciting.’ That’s kind of how I felt every day. … It's just such an exciting feeling that I always tell them it's so hard to explain, but it's just one of those things that when you wake up, you're just happy because you're where you have always wanted to be and you realize like how hard it is to get there and how hard you worked to get there.

MLB.com: What was your favorite moment of the year?

Mercado: I think my favorite one has to be probably my debut because I got to share it with my family. And I think maybe my first walk-off or my first hit. Just like little accomplishments I think were the coolest things. … I think just being around some of those guys. Like when you’re younger, you watch them play, you see all the stars and everything and now you're up there with them and hanging out with them. And I think that's also one of the surreal feelings. Just knowing you're one of them.”

MLB.com: What kind of food do you eat for Christmas dinner?

Mercado: We'll always have coconut rice. Giant salad. We do turkey. Flan. It’s similar to Thanksgiving.

MLB.com: Do you have a favorite Christmas movie?

Mercado: I love watching Christmas movies. But I want to say one of my favorite movies is "Home Alone" or "The Grinch."

MLB.com: What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?

Mercado: When I was five, I got my first baseball glove and I think that's been the best gift. Like I was so obsessed with it, which is why my parents were like, "Well, we think he likes baseball because he just won't ever stop playing with that thing." And that's when I kind of started playing baseball.

MLB.com: If you could give a gift to one of your teammates, what would it be?

Mercado: A free round of golf to any of the pitchers. I feel like they would all absolutely love that.

MLB.com If you had to give coal to one of your teammates, who would it be?

Mercado: He’s not my teammate now, but [Yasiel] Puig. He’d 100 percent be the guy to get coal for Christmas. I just think he would be the funniest and his reaction would be priceless.