After a brief stint with the Phillies, Oscar Mercado is back.
He’s now on a short list of players to appear in a game for Cleveland, play elsewhere in the majors, and then return to Cleveland in the same season.
This is a difficult bit of trivia to research, but I am aware of at least one other instance: Jeff Manto in 1998.
Manto made the Opening Day roster – he actually started at 1B on Opening Day in place of Jim Thome, with Randy Johnson on the mound. Manto was then placed on waivers and picked up by Detroit.
The Tigers released Manto in June and a few days later he re-signed with Cleveland and was sent to AAA. In August, Manto was recalled, and appeared in a few more games for Cleveland down the stretch.
Manto was acquired by the Indians in six different transactions throughout his career.
Konnor Pilkington tossed five scoreless innings with eight strikeouts in his third career start (sixth career game) against the Royals yesterday.
He’s the sixth pitcher in franchise history with at least eight strikeouts and zero runs allowed in a game within his first six career appearances. The others:
The Pirates have purchased the contract of Yu Chang, ending his Cleveland career.
He finishes his 2022 season with seven strikeouts in 10 plate appearances.
His 70% strikeout rate is the second highest in franchise history for a player with at least 10 plate appearances. Only pitcher Tom Hilgendorf in 1972 (79% – 11 K in 14 PA) was worse.
The next worst by a position player was Andrew Velazquez in 2019 (58% – 7 K in 12 PA).
This stat pretty much sums up Chang’s career in Cleveland:
Bryan Lavastida has made the Guardians Opening Day roster. He’s the first catcher with zero MLB experience to make the team’s Opening Day roster since Andy Allanson in 1986.
This is a difficult bit of trivia to research, but I am aware of at least one other instance: Jeff Manto in 1998. 