Lakeland, Fla. — Jordy Mercer’s travel bag and bats were all packed and loaded onto the bus Saturday morning as he sat scrolling around on his phone in front of his locker. If this was last season he would have had the option of skipping the trip to Tampa. He could have stayed back with the rest of the regulars, got some work on the back fields in the morning and taken the rest of the day off.
He could have shot playful jabs at the others who had to bus to Tampa for the pleasure of facing the Yankees' newly-minted, $324 million ace Gerrit Cole.