Chicago White Sox wide receiver Yermín Mercedes retires

Yermín Mercedes, who barged in this season and resumed baseball in April in a timeless fashion, retired from baseball tonight in decidedly 2020s fashion.

Earlier on Wednesday, Mercedes posted a cryptic message to Instagram, after deleting everything related to the White Sox:

Mercedes started on wide receiver in the Charlotte Knights game tonight. After soaring in her first game at bat and then ground against the pitcher in her second, Mercedes was pinched by fellow receiver Nate Nolan in the sixth inning of Charlotte’s AAA loss tonight. Later, his Instagram account posted this message:

This English post is an Instagram translation, which probably explains a lot of its obtuse nature, but surely something is wrong with this impulsive decision, especially when Mercedes refers to its “immaturity”. Publicly, the White Sox backed Mercedes during his fall in Chicago and demotion to Charlotte, and the wide receiver was hitting .309 / .377 / .655 for the Knights.

The reaction to this news was almost universal shock, whether from White Sox fans or from baseball fans.

It is not yet known whether Mercedes literally announced his retirement to in-game manager Wes Helms, or if his last Instagram post came as a result of his retirement from the game.

The White Sox have released an in-game statement:

After tonight’s White Sox loss, manager Tony La Russa cheered on his young wide receiver, telling the media after the game: “As you probably know, if you’re careful, many times [Mercedes] says how close we are. He knows that I am one of his supporters. So I will contact him and see what happens. He may just be feeling frustrated… I’ll try to explain to him that he has a future in the league.