‘I want him to win the Rookie of the Year Award I didn’t win’: Francisco Lindor’s advice fuels Oscar Mercado’s walk-off
By Zack Meisel Jun 11, 2019 2
CLEVELAND — Before the blue Gatorade bath and the jersey yanking, before the dash toward the line of coaches and the postgame interview tour, before the wave of texts and tweets flooded his phone, Oscar Mercado stared at Francisco Lindor from the on-deck circle.
He didn’t say a word to the shortstop, but his eyes screamed.
How do I do this?!
Cincinnati’s Raisel Iglesias intentionally walked Lindor to load the bases with one out in the bottom of the 10th. As Lindor ditched his bat and shin guard, he locked eyes with Mercado, who knew a proficient approach could vault the Indians to their fifth win in seven games on their homestand.
So what did Lindor tell the rookie?
“Take your time. Relax,” Lindor told The Athletic. “It’s going to be a win-win situation.”
He cycled through the potential outcomes with Mercado.
“You roll it over, you’re going to be safe at first.”
Mercado possesses the speed to beat out a double play. The Reds’ infielders played in on the edge of the grass, ready to throw to the plate on any reachable grounder.
“You hit a fly ball, you win the game.”
The Reds’ outfielders played in as well, so any moderately struck fly ball would force a pinpoint heave to prevent a sacrifice fly.
“Line drive, you win the game. Base hit, you win the game.”
Really, anything but a strikeout or a pop-up would spark a roar from the crowd and cause “Cleveland Rocks” to blare from the ballpark speakers.
Lindor could understand Mercado’s jitters. It hasn’t been long since his days as a novice big-leaguer.
“I would’ve looked at somebody in the dugout to help me out,” he said. “I probably would’ve swung at everything.”
Mercado instead peered directly at Lindor.
“Knowing Lindor from the time I’ve been here,” Mercado said, “he’s one of the most selfless guys I’ve been around. And he immediately looked at me and he started walking me through some things to do, like breathe, calm down, slow everything down.”
The pep talk continued throughout the at-bat. Mercado couldn’t keep from offering at a slider outside of the zone on the first pitch. As first-base umpire Lance Barrett ruled that Mercado went around, the teammates again connected.
Come to me. Just relax. Calm down.
“I like to lock it in,” Mercado said, “but I felt like it could help me. It could also distract me from being in the moment and thinking too much. I’m glad I did.”
Iglesias missed with a slider, and then Mercado fouled off an elevated slider. Trailing in the count, Mercado pulled a fourth consecutive slider to left field for a walk-off single. When he rounded first base, he tossed his helmet, located his tour guide and jumped into Lindor’s arms.
Mercado’s teammates spilled out of the dugout and sprinted toward second base to douse him in liquid and tug at his jersey top. When the chaos simmered, Mercado broke free from the mob and dashed toward the dugout to high-five his coaches.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Mercado said. “I was like, ‘What’s going to happen here? Am I going to get soaked with water?’ (Mike) Freeman came up to me and was like, ‘Dude, how tight do you tie your belt?’ They were trying to, like, rip my jersey. They couldn’t get it. I was like, ‘You know, it always comes untucked from diving, so I always made sure it was tight.’ But I thought that was funny. It was special. It was definitely my most special moment in my career.”
The Indians corralled the baseball for Mercado to keep. When he returned to his locker after the game, following a couple of postgame interview sessions, Mercado watched the replay on his phone and marveled at the number of messages piling up. He said he received nearly as many for earning a promotion to the majors last month.
“I’ve never actually felt such high emotions before,” Mercado said. “I think getting called up was right up there. … The biggest thing is just breathing during those at-bats, but it’s tough. You know, game’s on the line.”
And, fortunately for Mercado, Lindor was there to lend a hand.
“At the end of the day, I can’t keep everything I’ve learned,” said Lindor, who mentioned Michael Brantley, Edwin Encarnacion and Mike Napoli as having similar influences on him. “Pass it on and make someone else better.”
Mercado has posted a .288/.345/.450 slash line, with a 111 wRC+, in his first four weeks in the big leagues. He has held down the No. 2 spot in Terry Francona’s batting order, sandwiched between skilled switch-hitters Lindor and Carlos Santana. That sort of responsibility stems in part from the Indians’ lack of reliable hitting. But there’s also a widespread belief that he can handle that daunting of a task.
“To expect Oscar to be able to do that right off the bat is not fair,” Francona said. “But he’ll grow into it. He might grow into hitting third. But (we) just try not to put too much on his plate, because I’m sure the game is going pretty fast as it is. But he’s holding his own pretty damn good.”
Lindor has taken notice.
“He wants to learn,” Lindor said. “He pays attention to details. He learns sequences from the catchers and pitchers. Every one of us, we’ve made mistakes. Sometimes we get a little carried away. But he’s done an outstanding job.
He paused and smiled.
“I want him to win the Rookie of the Year Award that I didn’t win.”
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