Michael

Mercado

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.

Mercado just could not follow up his fantastic first start. He walked three batters in the first inning and was clearly being careful with the top of the Braves’ lineup. Then, they flipped the order over in the second inning and it was open season. Mercado was mercifully pulled after Matt Olson took him deep for Atlanta’s third home run of the inning. This was a start to flush and get rid of.

Mercado made his first career start on Tuesday night and was about as good as we could have hoped for. The 25-year-old righty allowed just four baserunners on the evening, with three of those coming in the third inning. The lone run he allowed came on a double by Cody Bellinger, but Mercado did more than enough to limit the Cubs’ bats to pick up his first career win in the big leagues. With Spencer Turnbull on the 15-day IL, Mercado will have a chance to make another start or two. He’s scheduled to toe the rubber again on Sunday against the Braves.

It’s a significant loss for the Phillies, especially with Taijuan Walker (finger) also on the shelf due to injury. The 31-year-old righty suffered the injury on Wednesday during his return to Philadelphia’s starting rotation and will likely wind up sidelined until at least early-to-mid August. It’ll probably be Michael Mercado attempting to fill the void, unless the Phillies are able to work out a deal to bring in some additional depth.

Turnbull was removed from his start on Wednesday after pitching just three innings; however, the right-hander doesn’t think the injury is anything serious. He wanted to tell the Phillies as soon as he felt anything to make sure he didn’t aggravate the soreness he was feeling. There is no timeline yet for his recovery, but Phillies manager Rob Thomson said that Michael Mercado would be the number five starter if Turnbull had to miss time. For now, reliever Yunior Marte was called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take Turnbull’s spot on the roster.

Mercado receives his first promotion to the majors with veteran Taijuan Walker landing on the injured list ahead of Sunday’s contest against the Diamondbacks. The 25-year-old righty, who was acquired last November from the Rays, will provide the Phillies’ bullpen with some extra long relief depth over the next few days.