Migueas Mercedes, a second-year right-hander from the Dominican Republic, gets the call as the Wilson Warbirds starting pitcher on the Single-A Carolina League team’s first Opening Day game.
The Milwaukee Brewers affiliate, formerly the Carolina Mudcats, will be the guest of the Fayetteville Woodpeckers for the 7:05 p.m. first pitch from SEGRA Stadium.
Mercedes, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound 19-year-old, pitched 17 games last summer in his first professional season, including five games with the Mudcats.
Projected starters for the remainder of the three-game opening series for Wilson are right-hander Enniel Cortez on Saturday and Jaret Bonet on Sunday.
ON DECK
After the three-game weekend series and the off day Monday (every Monday in the Carolina League is an off day), the Warbirds visit the Salem (Virginia) RidgeYaks for a six-game set starting Tuesday.
UP AND RUNNING
There were four games played in the Carolina League on Thursday night with Salem, Hill City, Hickory and Myrtle Beach getting the win. All 12 teams will be in action Friday.
AFFILIATIONS
The MLB teams with affiliates in the Carolina League are the Atlanta Braves (Augusta Greenjackets), Baltimore Orioles (Delmarva Shorebirds), Boston Red Sox (Salem RidgeYaks), Chicago Cubs (Myrtle Beach Pelicans), Chicago White Sox (Kannapolis Cannon Ballers, Cleveland Indians (Hill City Howlers), Houston Astros (Fayetteville Woodpeckers), Kansas City Royals (Columbia Fireflies), Tampa Bay Rays (Charleston Riverdogs), Texas Rangers (Hickory Crawdads) and Washington Nationals (Fredericksburg Nationals). And of course, the Brewers.
HELPING HANDS
Eddy Morgan is the first manager of the Wilson Warbirds in his first year of professional baseball after more than 20 years as a college head coach in Wisconsin. Morgan also managed five seasons in the collegiate summer baseball Northwoods League from 2013 to 2017.
On Morgan’s inaugural Wilson staff are hitting coach Jose Garcia, pitching coach Paul Moeller and associate pitching coaches Jesus Hernandez and Rick Carvajal. Matt Pawlik is the Warbirds athletic trainer while Emily Young is the team’s strength coach.
FACT OF THE DAY
Since becoming a Milwaukee Brewers farm club in 2017, the franchise has won seven times on eight Opening Days. The loss came in 2019 and the 2023 was a doubleheader split and the Warbirds say they are are counting that one.