Baseball is back! It’s spring, the weather is getting warmer, except in Detroit, but baseball is here. Most importantly, there are real fans, not just cardboard cutouts of your Uncle Alfred in the stands. With that, another year of the best hitters of the week is digging in.
Let us look at who gets the honor in the 2021 opening weekend.
Yermin Mercedes CHW
The White Sox have a ton of young talent, and with the years of experience, their manager Tony LaRussa has, they will be a force in the American League.
Yermin Mercedes‘ story is amazing; he was signed by the Nationals as an international free agent in 2011, released in 2013, played in the independent leagues till he was signed by the Orioles in 2014, then picked by the White Sox in the Rule 5 draft in 2017 and didn’t make his major league debut until last August where he had had one at-bat in 2020.
The 28-year old rookie became the first player in the modern (since 1900) to start the season 8-for-8. For this, he was named American League Player Of The Week. It was a long road for Mercedes, but he has reached his destination.
**Nicholas Castellanos](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/casteni01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-) CIN**
Castellanos had a pretty eventful weekend; he hit some bombs against the Cardinals, he got hit by the Cardinals, then he hit Jake Woodford with some vocal aggression.
Castellanos will get a couple of games off to reflect on his weekend where he had five RBIs, and a league-leading 1.364 slugging percentage.
Alex Bregman HOU
I had Bregman as one of my stars to have a bounce-back 2021, and he’s making me look good. He had two hits in all three games this weekend, home runs in the first two games, and his 1.083 slugging percentage was second in the American League.
Cedric Mullins BAL
I’m sure how good the Orioles will be this year, but if they play as they did in Boston opening weekend, they could be a huge dark horse. Mullins one of those players that lead the charge of the sweep in bean town. Multiple hits in all three games and capped it off with a perfect 5-for-5 to end the first weekend with a league-leading .692 batting average and American League-leading .714 on-base percentage.
Eric Hosmer SD
With the moves the Padres made in the off-season, they are making the statement, even in the same division as the world champion Dodgers, they are the team to beat.
Hosmer is one of the veterans on the team and he is looked on as a leader, and he did. Back-to-back games with three hits and a home run helped San Diego take two of three against the Diamondbacks. That helped earn Hosmer National League Player of The Week honors.
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**Main Image Credit:
Embed from Getty Images**
