The general consensus among average Pittsburgh Pirates fans is that Jordy Mercer is an average shortstop, offensively and defensively. Let’s take a deeper look and determine whether or not this theory is true and try to understand how valuable Mercer is.
Take a simple search for “Jordy Mercer” of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Twitter, the hub of all overly positive or despicably negative thoughts. The bulk of the tweets referring to him, whether from fans or from media, are positive.
https://twitter.com/ajb1031/status/869302030996733953
Jordy Mercer is a Smooth Operator at SS –defensively under rated nationally… #Pirates
— Bob Pompeani (@KDPomp) May 14, 2017
You will find some negative thoughts, but that’s because Twitter is full of negativity. Not every tweet will be positive.
After driving in the game-tying not once, but twice yesterday, Mercer is on the good side of plenty of Pirates fans.
Rain? Jordy doesn't mind. 💪#HaveMercer https://t.co/5uNPmBGkh4
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) May 31, 2017
Mercer is popular and worthy enough that the Pirates are giving away a bobblehead of him in a few weeks, for whatever that is worth.
But how do we properly gauge Jordy Mercer’s value? Mercer has always shown flashes – fans saw two of them yesterday as he tied the game up in the 9th and 11th innings – but has left many feeling that his overall offensive performance has been lacking. We’ll start there.
Offense
Mercer has hit over .256 just once in his career (.285 in 2013). His 2017 on-base percentage would be a career-high if the season ended today.
In terms of advanced statistics, Mercer’s strikeout percentage in 2017 represents a career-best of 13.7-percent. Mercer’s Batting Average on Balls in Play is .277, which is his worst since his .250 mark in 2012, when he only had 68 plate appearances.
Additionally, Mercer’s wGDB (weighted grounded into double plays above average) is a career-worst -0.7, as is his -1.7 wSB (stolen bases and caught stealing runs above average).
Mercer is hitting to the opposite field a career-low 21.2-percent and is hitting ground balls a career-high rate of 50.3-percent.
Only signs suggest Mercer is an average hitter at best in the middle of a tough season. Let’s switch things up and check out his defensive work.
Defense
As a shortstop, Mercer has improved heavily since his first two seasons, when he combined to commit 13 errors in 698.1 innings. In 2012 and 2013, Mercer had 1 Defensive Run Saved and -4.5 Ultimate Zone Rating.
In the four seasons since, Mercer has had worse defensive statistics just once; last season. In 2016, Mercer saved -9 runs and had a -8.4 UZR. His nine errors that season were not his worst since 2012-13 because Mercer committed 11 errors in 2014.
In 2017, Mercer’s defensive stat line is better: three errors, zero DRS, 0.6 UZR.
A common complement of Mercer is his ability to turn double plays, but advanced statistics suggest otherwise. Mercer’s DPR (double play runs above average) has never been over 0.8. This year, his DPR is 0.0 after posting a -0.8 last season.
All of these offensive and defensive numbers help prove that Mercer is average offensively and slightly below average defensively, but now let’s look at Mercer’s peers to see where he ranks.
Comparing Mercer to other shortstops
Among the qualified MLB shortstops (23 offensively, 27 defensively), here is where Jordy Mercer ranks in several major categories
| BABIP | OBP | WAR | DRS | UZR | Errors |
| 16th (.274) | 7th (.346) | 12th (0.7) | 12th (0) | 14th (0.6) | 21st (3) |
The only areas that Mercer excels in are OBP and fewest errors committed. Mercer does do a solid job at getting on base, but his average and BABIP could do to improve.
At a position that is loaded with names across the league like Francisco Lindor, Addison Russell and Xander Bogaerts, the least exciting name (both literally and statistically) is Jordy Mercer.
As a former third-round pick, Mercer was never expected to be a superstar like those other young shortstops. Considering his draft spot, Mercer has done a nice job in his career, but once again, he is deemed average when compared with the rest of the league.
Good, not great
Jordy Mercer has proven that he is a major-league shortstop, but does not wow. He fills a need. No major-league team will have superstars at every position and Mercer fits under the role of an average lineup regular.
To suggest that Mercer is “great” offensively or defensively, is wrong. He’s never been great at either, but he has always been solid.
When comparing Mercer to other major-league shortstops, this position is further cemented. It’s clear that he isn’t the worst at his position, but Mercer is also far from the best.
At $4.325 million, Mercer is slightly overpaid, but that’s because he was signed to a one-year deal to bypass a year of arbitration. To sacrifice arbitration, team’s must sway players with a convincing contract. It worked with Mercer. Not an awful deal for the eighth-highest paid player on the Pirates.
Despite his contract and stats, here is why Mercer is still a starter with the Pirates and may continue to be for a few more years: he’s the team’s only major-league capable shortstop. There are signs that Gift Ngoepe can handle short, but there are doubts about him becoming an MLB regular starter. Mercer is more experienced and is alone on the Pirates shortstop island.
Until Kevin Newman comes up, it’s likely that Mercer stays with and starts for the Pirates. They made the playoffs three other times with him as a regular, so it’s obvious that he isn’t hurting the Pirates significantly enough to warrant moving on from him ASAP. That said, Mercer does little more than what is expected of him to benefit the Pittsburgh Pirates as well.
Jordy Mercer is average. For now, that’s just fine.
Image Credit – Daniel Decker Photography
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