Cristopher Crisostomo Mercedes (born March 8, 1994), also known as C. C. Mercedes, is a Dominican
professional baseball starting pitcher
In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...
for the
Chiba Lotte Marines of
Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He was signed by the
Tampa Bay Rays as an international free agent in 2011 and pitched for the
Yomiuri Giants of NPB from 2017 to 2022. Crisostomo is listed at and and throws left handed. He is a switch hitter.
Career
Tampa Bay Rays
On July 2, 2011, Crisostomo signed with the
Tampa Bay Rays organization as an international free agent.
He made his professional debut with the
Dominican Summer League Rays in 2012, posting a 1–3 record and 3.66 ERA in 14 games. He split the 2013 season between the DSL Rays and the rookie-level
GCL Rays
The Florida Complex League Rays are a minor league baseball team in Port Charlotte, Florida, competing as a Rookie-level team in the Florida Complex League as an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast ...
, pitching to a cumulative 2–5 record and 3.83 ERA. He returned to the GCL Rays in 2014, pitching to a 1–2 record and 3.24 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 16.2 innings of work. For the 2015 season, Crisostomo played for the Low-A
Hudson Valley Renegades, recording a 2.85 ERA in 18 appearances. On October 8, 2015, Crisostomo was released by the Rays organization.
Yomiuri Giants
On January 5, 2017, Crisostomo signed with the
Yomiuri Giants of
Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a developmental squad player. Initially, he spent a year with the
Hiroshima Toyo Carp's Dominican academies, before his contract was not renewed. He spent the year with the Giants’ farm and team, recording a 3.29 ERA in 18 games.
On July 8, 2018, Crisostomo was added to Yomiuri's main team roster. He made his NPB debut on July 10 as the starting pitcher against the
Tokyo Yakult Swallows, and pitched 5.0 scoreless innings en route to the win. He finished his rookie season with a 5–4 record and 2.05 ERA in 13 games. For the 2019 season, Crisostomo pitched in 22 games for Yomiuri, logging an 8–8 record and 3.52 ERA with 107 strikeouts in 138.1 innings of work. In 2020, Crisostomo recorded a 4–4 record and 3.10 ERA in 11 appearances before his season ended after undergoing surgery to clean out his left elbow.
Chiba Lotte Marines
On December 14, 2022, the
Chiba Lotte Marines acquired Crisostomo.
International career
On July 8, 2021, Crisostomo was named to the Olympic roster for the
Dominican Republic national baseball team for the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
(contested in 2021). He started for the team in their opening game against
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, giving up 1 earned run over 6 innings in a no-decision.
References
External links
Career statistics – NPB.jp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercedes, Cristopher
1994 births
Living people
Baseball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Olympic medalists in baseball
Olympic bronze medalists for the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Japan
Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States
Dominican Summer League Rays players
Gulf Coast Rays players
Hudson Valley Renegades players
Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers
Yomiuri Giants players
Chiba Lotte Marines players
Baseball players from La Romana, Dominican Republic
Olympic baseball players for the Dominican Republic