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Interview with Jordy Mercer
Jordy Mercer 2009 Video Recap

WTM’S PIRATE PLAYER PROFILES

2008
A-:  250/280/500, 25 AB, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 1 BB, 3 K, 1-1 SB
A:  250/300/349, 192 AB, 7 2B, 4 HR, 12 BB, 44 K, 4-7 SB

Opened at State College along with fellow shortstop, fourth round pick Chase d’Arnaud.  Mercer didn’t stay long, though, as the Pirates wanted to separate the two, so they sent him to Hickory.  He struggled there for about five weeks, a lot of it due to offspeed pitches, then came around in August, hitting 312/341/442.  His plate discipline remained poor, though, as he drew only three walks for the month and fanned twenty times.

2009
A+:  255/314/400, 513 AB, 36 2B, 4 3B, 10 HR, 41 BB, 93 K, 10-16 SB 

The Pirates sent Mercer to Lynchburg, as they faced logjam at short with d’Arnaud in low A.  Mercer never quite got hot, struggling still with offspeed pitches.  He saved his best hitting for August, when he batted .303, but August in the minors can be like September in the majors, with the best players being promoted and pitchers being shut down for the year.  He did show good power, leading the Carolina League in doubles and finishing fifth in RBIs (83) despite batting second.  His walk and K (93) totals could have been better, but weren’t alarming.  He hit RHPs a little better than LHPs.  Mercer played short until d’Arnaud moved up in late June, then alternated between short and third.

2010
AA:  282/329/373, 485 AB, 31 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 31 BB, 69 K, 7-8 SB 

Spent the season at Altoona.  His hitting was better in some ways but not in others, as he evidently cut down on his swing.  His power and walks dropped off some, but he cut down on whiffs and hit for a better average.  He had a lot of doubles, but only three HRs after hitting ten the year before.  He was more consistent; except for a May slump (.210), he hit at least .272 in every month, and .296 or better in three months.  The contrast between Mercer and d’Arnaud was interesting: d’Arnaud retained good secondary skills (gap power, patience and base stealing), but didn’t hit for average.  Mercer opened the season playing mainly third, with d’Arnaud at short and Josh Harrison at second.  As the season wore on, Mercer changed positions first with Harrison, then with d’Arnaud.  The Pirates didn’t give any reasons for this, but it may have been a consequence of the other two struggling at their initial positions.  Judging by what I’ve seen, Mercer has a better arm than d’Arnaud and is a much more reliable defender, especially at short.

2011
AA:  268/329/491, 265 AB, 17 2B, 1 3B, 13 HR, 23 BB, 35 K, 6-9 SB
AAA:  239/304/385, 226 AB, 13 2B, 1 3B, 6 HR, 13 BB, 43 K, 3-6 SB 

The Pirates sent Mercer back to Altoona.  They faced a logjam of infielders in AAA and Mercer lost out to d’Arnaud and Harrison.  He got off to a slow start, hitting .154 in April, but got hot in May, hitting for more power than ever.  By the time he was promoted at the end of June, he was slugging close to .500.  Despite the increased power, his plate discipline actually improved.  In Indianapolis he got off to another slow start, hitting just 177/275/313 in July.  He turned it around in August, though, hitting 313/347/491, before going 1-for-14 in September.  His plate discipline was much shakier than in AA and actually got a little worse in August.  He had a huge platoon split in AAA, posting a .902 OPS against LHPs and .607 against RHPs.  For the year as a whole he had 30 doubles and 19 HRs, the latter total leading the farm system.  He played short full-time at Altoona, then alternated between short and third in AAA.  He had only 11 errors total all year.

2012
AAA:  287/357/421, 209 AB, 14 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 20 BB, 45 K, 3-8 SB
MLB:  210/265/371, 62 AB, 5 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 4 BB, 14 K, 0-1 SB

The Pirates added Mercer to the 40-man roster after the 2011 season and he returned to AAA.  He got off to a somewhat slow start, hitting 238/347/375 in April.  He then hit 358/408/453 in May and was called up at the end of the month.  Except for a brief stretch from late June to early July, he remained with the Pirates the rest of the year as their 25th man.  Or at least that’s what the official web site said.  Clint Hurdle didn’t seem to be aware, as Mercer met the same fate as Pedro Ciriaco the year before and remained largely forgotten.  He frequently went stretches of five to eight days without playing at all.  In one stretch of 32 days, from August 20 through September 26, he made no starts and only four plate appearances.  With Clint Barmes mired in a terrible season, this isn’t easy to understand.  Even harder to understand is the fact that, from mid-August on, Harrison served as the backup shortstop, with Mercer getting only one start at the position.  Mercer is dramatically better defensively than Harrison and even had a slightly higher OPS than Harrison in his very limited opportunities.

It’s hard to know whether Mercer’s disappearance into the Hurdle Triangle while in the majors was a product of the Pirates not considering him a useful player or of Hurdle’s inexplicable decision-making, which got increasingly bizarre during the Pirates’ late-season 2012 collapse.  Mercer is a legitimate shorstop and he has a little power, which probably gives him something close to Harrison’s upside as a hitter.  With d’Arnaud looking less and less like a prospect, it’d seem to be a good idea for the Pirates to see whether Mercer can handle major league pitching.  In keeping with their lack of interest in Mercer, though, the Pirates acquired the aging John McDonald and his 61 career OPS+ to be their backup middle infielder.  Mercer had a good spring, but was sent down anyway.  It seems very unlikely that he’ll ever get meaningful playing time in Pittsburgh.