Pittsburgh Pirates News: Jordy Mercer Activated

The Pittsburgh Pirates have activated shortstop Jordy Mercer from the disabled list.  The corresponding move to get Mercer on the 25-man roster was Sean Rodriguez being designated for assignment.

The Pirates starting shortstop hasn’t played since August 14 when he left the game early against the Minnesota Twins.  The now 32-year-old was placed on the disabled list with a calf strain.  Now that he is off the disabled list, he’s batting eight in tonight’s lineup against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The veteran is hitting .262/.329/.397 and has been worth 1.2 wins above (WARP) according to Baseball Prospectus.  With Adeiny Hechavarria getting the bulk of the playing time at short in Mercer’s absence, Kevin Newman still on the roster, Adam Frazier being red hot, and Kevin Kramer looking like he should be promoted, it’ll be interesting to see how these players shake out over the final month.

One way could be by Mercer’s activation, the Pirates can place him on waivers and work out a trade by Friday’s deadline.  The Milwaukee Brewers have gotten no help at shortstop (Orlando Arcia is hitting .217/.250/.279) and Mercer could represent an upgrade to them, and perhaps as an insurance policy to others, as Milwaukee looks to keep their playoff spot locked up.

To make room for Mercer, the Pirates designated Sean Rodriguez for assignment.  On the year, the veteran utility player has hit .167/.277/.313 and has struck out 34.7 percent of the time.  It was an interesting decision to bring back Rodriguez last year, and more interesting to give him the amount of playing time that he received this year.  But he still contributed some good throughout his two tenure’s as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Perhaps the biggest loss would be Rodriguez’s presence in the clubhouse, something that he has been known to be remarkably well in.  With roster constraints and certain players performing, Rodriguez was the odd man out.