Yermín Mercedes named AL Rookie of the Month

After Yermín Mercedes’ first full month in the major leagues, he was named the American League Rookie of the Month. This is the third straight season the White Sox have had a player win this honor, while Mercedes joins teammates and past recipients José Abreu (2014), Eloy Jiménez (2019) and Luis Robert (2020).

Here’s what the White Sox had to say:

YERMÍN MERCEDES NAMED AMERICAN LEAGUE ROOKIE OF THE MONTH

CHICAGO — Chicago White Sox designated hitter Yermín Mercedes has been named American League Rookie of the Month, his first career monthly honor.

Mercedes, 28, hit .415/.455/.659 with five doubles, five home runs, 16 RBIs, 10 runs and five three-plus hit efforts over 22 April games. He tied for the major league lead in hits and three-plus hit games and ranked second in average, and finished among the AL leaders in BABIP (second, .446), on-base percentage (third), slugging percentage (fourth), OPS (fourth, 1.113), wOBA (fourth, .478) and total bases (tied for seventh, 54). Mercedes led all major league rookies in RBIs and tied for the lead in home runs.

Mercedes’ 34 hits set a club rookie record for March/April, tied for the sixth-most by a major-league rookie before May and marked the most since Detroit’s Austin Jackson (36) in 2010. Mercedes’ .415 average was the highest by a White Sox right-handed hitter entering May, and he fell .010 points shy (Mike Trout, .425) of becoming the fifth rookie in baseball history to lead the majors in average at the end of April.

Mercedes’ 485-foot home run on April 8 vs. Kansas City is the longest in baseball this season, and he owns five of the six longest homers on the White Sox this season (485, 449, 431, 431 and 421 feet). His 444-foot average home run distance leads baseball (minimum five home runs). Mercedes set a new major-league record by starting the season 8-for-8 over his first two games.

Mercedes is the White Sox first AL Rookie monthly honoree since Luis Robert in July/August 2020.

Mercedes provided an up-and-down lineup with consistent production, and fans with endless highlights in April. With Luis Robert hurt and some of the White Sox’s main bats still struggling, hopefully Mercedes can continue his otherworldly pace into May, too.