Mercedes wallops blast, Whitlock dazzles

Yermín Mercedes hit a baseball on Thursday afternoon. By the time it landed, after hurtling through a gloomy Chicago sky, it had traveled nearly a tenth of a mile.

White Sox No. 21 prospect Mercedes belted Chicago’s longest regular-season home run of the Statcast era, obliterating a solo shot 485 feet as part of his team’s three-run first inning, in a 6-0 win over the Royals in Chicago’s home opener.

One batter after Yoán Moncada had staked the White Sox to a lead in the first with a two-out, two-run homer of his own, Mercedes took the fourth pitch he saw from Kansas City starter Brad Keller and pummeled it. The ball left the designated hitter’s bat at 113.3 mph according to Statcast data and landed near the top of the bleachers in left field.

The blast was the third-longest ever hit by a White Sox player at Guaranteed Rate Field, behind only Joe Borchard’s 504-foot monster against the Phillies on Aug. 30, 2004 and a 495-footer from Hall of Famer Jim Thome opposite the Twins on July 23, 2002.

Only Luis Robert’s 487-foot homer against the A’s in Game 3 of last year’s Wild Card Series was a longer shot for a White Sox player since Statcast began tracking such numbers in 2015.

Mercedes wasn’t done after the homer. The reigning American League Player of the Week continued his torrid start to the 2021 campaign by singling in his next at-bat, lining his second hit of the day to center field. Mercedes now has four multi-hit games on the young season and is batting .556/.571/.889 through six games played.

As Mercedes dazzled with the bat, 30th-ranked Red Sox prospect Garrett Whitlock continued to impress on the mound. On in relief of Boston starter Eduardo Rodriguez, Whitlock added to his stellar 2021 start with two perfect innings. The 2020 Rule 5 Draft selection struck out three of the six batters he faced in Boston’s 7-3 win at Baltimore. Whitlock reached 95.8 mph with his fastball according to Statcast and got two of his three strikeouts via swings, earning his first hold as a Major Leaguer.

More notable performances from top prospects on Thursday:

Pavin Smith, RF, ARI
Though his team struggled to score runs, Smith had a good day in Arizona’s series finale at Colorado. After being no-hit through their first six innings at the plate, the D-backs got into the hit column in the seventh. Arizona's No. 15 prospect followed David Peralta’s leadoff triple with an RBI single to right field, then doubled to right ahead of Eduardo Escobar’s two-run homer in the ninth. The performance was Smith’s third multi-hit game in 18 as a Major Leaguer dating back to last season. Gameday»

Nick Neidert, RHP, MIA
Despite battling his command in his season debut, Miami’s No. 12 prospect kept his team in its opener of a seven-game road trip. Neidert pitched into the fifth inning, charged with a run on three hits over 4 1/3 and striking out three in an effort to counter five walks. The righty threw 85 pitches, 50 for strikes, and took a no-decision as the Mets walked off with a 3-2 win in odd fashion. Gameday»