Michael

Mercado

Mercado returns to augment Philadelphia’s organizational depth heading into next season after being non-tendered earlier this offseason. The 26-year-old righty holds an inflated 11.81 ERA and 14/13 K/BB ratio across 16 innings over eight appearances in the majors since 2024. He recorded a pedestrian 5.01 FIP and 23.6 percent strilkeout rate over 49 innings at the Triple-A level this past season.

They also announced that they tendered all of their arbitration-eligible players, as expected. Robert had a 4.15 ERA in 15 appearances before going down with a forearm strain last season. Mercado gave up five runs in three innings in his three appearances. They’ll likely both be offered minor league contracts to stick around.

Mercado retreats to the minors after allowing five runs over three innings (three appearances) in the big leagues since the start of June. He’ll likely return at some point later this summer as middle relief depth.

The former starter has a 5.31 ERA in 20 1/3 innings out of the bullpen at Triple-A. He’s not on the fantasy radar and will just be organizational depth in Philadelphia.

Mercado stuck around until the end of Phillies camp this spring, but didn’t end up making the club’s season-opening relief mix. The 25-year-old made five appearances (two starts) last year at the big-league level.

Mercado pitched just once since being called up and was charged with four runs over 1 1/3 innings in last night’s 10-0 loss.

Mercado has a 9.26 ERA in two starts and two relief appearances for the Phillies this season. He’s been used as a true reliever since being sent down last month, and he had come through with a 2.92 ERA in 12 1/3 innings over 10 appearances for Lehigh Valley.

Mercado has struggled in a handful of outings recently, compiling a catastrophic 9.26 ERA, 1.71 WHIP and 8/8 K/BB ratio across 11 2/3 innings (four appearances, two starts), and the Phillies are going to turn things over to Tyler Phillips for the moment as their temporary fifth starter.

After a poor start against the Braves last week, the Phillies used an opening for him today against the A’s, but it didn’t do any good. Technically, Mercado only allowed five hard-hit baseballs, but three of them were home runs and four went for extra-base hits. Mercado now has a 9.26 ERA and should likely not be in the Phillies rotation for long after the All-Star break.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson confirmed Tuesday that Michael Mercado is being moved to the bullpen after being lit up for five runs on Sunday in a loss to the Braves. There isn’t much of an impact from a fantasy standpoint, but it’s a decent matchup for streaming purposes in deeper mixed leagues.