Yermín Mercedes and Jonathan Stiever named August/September White Sox Minor League Players of the Month

CHICAGO – Class AAA Charlotte catcher Yermín Mercedes has been named the Chicago White Sox Minor League Player of the Month for August/September, and Class A Winston-Salem right-handed pitcher Jonathan Stiever has been named Pitcher of the Month as voted by a panel of Chicago-area media members.

Mercedes, 26, batted .317/.419/.646 (26-82) with six doubles, seven home runs, 28 RBI, 17 runs scored and a 1.065 OPS over 24 games with the Knights in August and September. He went 3-4 with a double, homer and four RBI in the season finale on Monday at Norfolk.

The 5-foot-11, 225-pound Mercedes batted .317/.388/.581 (106-334) with 19 doubles, 23 homers, 80 RBI and 54 runs scored over 95 games between Class AA Birmingham and Charlotte this season. A native of La Romana, Dominican Republic, Mercedes was selected by the White Sox from Baltimore in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 Draft on December 14, 2017.

Stiever, 22, went 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA (6 ER/26.0 IP), 26 strikeouts and a 1.15 WHIP over five starts for the Dash in August. He threw 16.0 consecutive scoreless IP over three starts from August 16-29, and struck out a season-high tying nine batters over 5.0 IP on August 4 vs. Carolina.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Stiever went a combined 10-10 with a 3.48 ERA (56 ER/145.0 IP) and 154 strikeouts in 26 starts between Class A Kannapolis and Winston-Salem in 2019. He finished with a 6-4 record, 2.15 ERA (17 ER/71.0 IP), 77 strikeouts and a .216 (56-259) opponents average over 12 starts after being promoted to the Dash on June 20.

Stiever, a native of Cedarburg, Wis., was selected by the White Sox in the fifth round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft.