Jordy Mercer to the Majors

Former Hickory Crawdads shortstop Jordy Mercer was promoted to the Pittsburgh Pirates Tuesday afternoon. A member of the 2008 team, he becomes the 106th former Crawdads player to make a Major League roster.

Mercer was the third round pick of the Pirates in 2008 out of Oklahoma State. After a six-game stint at short-season State College (Pa.), Mercer made his debut with the Crawdads on June 26, 2008. In his first game for the Crawdads, Mercer was 2-for-4 with a double during a 7-1 loss at Asheville.

His best stretch for the Crawdads came at the end of the season when he finished on a ten-game hitting streak. He finished the season with a .250 average with 4 home runs and 18 RBI.

He was better known for his play in the field. Along with first-half shortstop Jose De Los Santos, who was promoted to make room for Mercer, the two combined to set club records at the position in a season including putouts (244), double plays (106) and fielding pct. (.951).

Since leaving the Crawdads, Mercer worked his way up the Pirates chain with stops at High A- Lynchburg, AA- Altoona and AAA- Indianapolis.

In 2011, Mercer was named the Pirates organizational All-Star at short. He was also named by Baseball America as the AA All-Star shortstop.

This season, Mercer leads Indianapolis in hitting with a .303 average. He has 11 doubles, three homers and 22 RBI.

Mercer is only the sixth shortstop to play for the Crawdads that has gone on to make the major leagues. Others include: Jason Dellaero ('97), Danny Sandoval ('98), Jose Castillo ('00), Brian Bixler ('05) and Brent Lillibridge ('06).

Mercer joins fellow Oklahoma St. teammate Matt Hague, as well as Brad Lincoln and Adam LaRoche, who played in Hickory on a rehab assignment, as members of the 2008 team to play in the majors.