David Mergans

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 163 lb.

• Born February 27, 2002 in Brno Czech Republic

Biographical Information

David Mergans has pitched in the Extraliga and for the Czech national team.

Making his Extraliga debut at age 18, he was 2-2 with a 4.32 ERA for the Třebíč Nuclears. His 8.4 K/9 were 7th in the league, between Ondřej Furko and Lukáš Ercoli. He moved to Draci Brno the next year and beat Minsk on Brno's way to the 2021 CEB Cup. He improved to 5-1, 1.71 with a save in the '21 Extraliga and was among the leaders in ERA (5th), WHIP (5th) and wins (tied for second, two behind Ondřej Satoria. He had a save and a 2.20 ERA in nine postseason games.

In the 2021 U23 European Championship, he was 0-1 with a 6.30 ERA despite seven whiffs in 3 1/3 IP. Making the Czech squad for the 2021 European Championship, he debuted in a loss to the champion Netherlands. Relieving Viktor Večerka in the 8th with a 10-1 deficit, he got Juremi Profar and Calten Daal on flies, hit Dwayne Kemp and retired Sicnarf Loopstok. The 9th did not go as smoothly as Junior Martina and John Polonius singled. He struck out Julian Rip but Denzel Richardson singled in a run and Ray-Patrick Didder walked to load the bases. Jiří Vavruša relieved and got out of the inning without another run scoring. His other contest, Mergans replaced Satoria in the 7th with a 10-3 lead against Slovakia. He retired all six batters he faced (Adam Zacko, Matej Grendža-Donský, Martin Brunegraf, Martin Lukačka, Mário Gottschall, Tomáš Biskorovájny) then the game ended at 13-3 due to the mercy rule. In the 2021 U23 Baseball World Cup, he was 0-2 with nine runs (four earned) in six innings, losing to Taiwan and the Netherlands.

He signed to play with Milano in the Italian minors for 2022. He was 7-0 with five saves and a 2.40 ERA, striking out 84 in 56 1/3 IP. He tied for second in Serie B in saves. He then made the Czech team for the 2022 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers but did not get into a game; the Czechs won a spot in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, their first World Baseball Classic.