Mario Mercedes

Mario Mercedes Castillo

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 195 lb.

• Born November 22, 1986 in La Romana, La Romana D.R.

BR register page

Biographical Information

Mario Mercedes played as high as AAA and for the Dominican national team.

Mercedes signed with the Chicago Cubs. He hit .298/.341/.369 for the 2005 AZL Cubs. In '06, he played for the AZL Cubs (.214/.267/.214 in 4 G) and Boise Hawks (.315/.336/.392 in 37 G). He was in one game that winter for the Gigantes del Cibao but did not bat. The next year, he hit .271/.331/.336 for Boise, backing up Josh Donaldson behind the dish.

In 2008, he was with the Daytona Cubs (0 for 8, BB) and Peoria Chiefs (.218/.258/.263 in 52 G), again backing up Donaldson. He spent all of 2009 back with Peoria, producing at a .271/.294/.361 clip while backing up Michael Brenly. He was 2 for 4 for the 2009-2010 Gigantes. In 2010, he bounced between Peoria (.269/.319/.291 in 51 G), Daytona (2 for 7) and the Tennessee Smokies (3 for 15). He fielded .993 that summer and threw out 36% of would-be base-stealers. He also won a game on the mound.

Mario was with four teams in 2011, only totaling 23 games between Boise (.474/.500/.526 in 5 G), Daytona (.182/.213/.250 in 14 G), Tennessee (0 for 2) and the Iowa Cubs (5 for 10, 2B, 3B, BB). He was 0 for 11 with a walk for the 2011-2012 Gigantes. His time in the Cubs chain over, he signed with the independent Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings for 2012 and hit .300/.361/.352. That winter, he was 1 for 4 for the Gigantes, walking twice.

He split 2013 between the Southern Illinois Miners (.255/.296/.265 in 32 G), Washington Wild Things (.229/.264/.257 in 35 G) and McAllen Thunder (.286/.370/.333 in 7 G) then went 3 for 13 with a walk for the Estrellas Orientales in the Dominican. He batted .315/.354/.424 in 45 games for the '14 Brownsville Charros to end his US career then was 1 for 5 that winter for the Estrellas.

Mercedes made the Dominican team for the 2015 Pan American Games. Backing up Mayo Acosta, he was 2 for 7 but with a homer (he only had 8 in 535 games as a pro) and four RBI. Only Jordy Lara drove in more runs for the Dominicans. He was pulled from the Games due to a positive test for dimethylbutylamine, a stimulant. He backed up long-time major leaguer Miguel Olivo in the 2015 Premier 12, going 0 for 2 with a walk (from Martin Viramontes) and catching one of two on the bases.