Paul Sullivan: Yermín Mercedes is hitting .382 for the red-hot White Sox, who have the best record in baseball. The rookie will come back to earth one day, right?

CHICAGO — When Yermín Mercedes became the first player in modern history to start a season with eight consecutive hits, we waited for the Chicago White Sox rookie to come back to earth.

And when he finished April being named the American League Rookie of the Month, we waited for the law of averages to kick in.

Sooner or later, the waiting is going to have to stop.

While Mercedes has come down from his .417 average in April, he still led the majors at .376 entering Thursday’s 4-2 win over the Minnesota Twins and had hit .333 since the record-breaking 8-for-8 start.

You won’t find him near the top of any American League MVP lists on betting sites or even listed on some. But when you’re hitting .382 in mid-May for the team with the best record in baseball, you must be doing something right.

Manager Tony La Russa gave Mercedes a day off Thursday, inserting José Abreu in the DH spot and giving Jake Lamb the start at first base. But with a one-run lead in the eighth, Mercedes came off the bench to a standing ovation and delivered a run-scoring single, igniting chants of “M-V-P.”

“That’s like you’re writing a fiction story,” La Russa said afterward. “People came to the ballpark and they saw he wasn’t the DH and saw Abreu and know every once in a while he has to (DH). But to give him a chance to make a clutch appearance and coming through, that was theatrical, man. That was high drama.”

La Russa’s lineup was greeted with derision after the Sox posted it on their official Twitter account. But Tim Anderson homered on the first pitch in the bottom of the first, and Lamb homered in the third to give Lance Lynn a quick lead. Lynn (4-1) struck out nine over five innings, the bullpen combined for four innings of one-run ball and the Sox won their sixth straight game and 14th of their last 18.

After sweeping the defending division champs and delivering what could be an early knockout blow to the Twins’ chances of repeating, the Sox suddenly are riding high, putting their rough start in the past. It’s early, but with the Cleveland Indians the only division rival with a winning record, the Sox could be spending the next 4 1/2 months prepping for the playoffs.

Mercedes not only has helped make up for the losses of Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert, his start probably kept the Sox from going after Albert Pujols, a La Russa favorite the Los Angeles Angels dumped. And Mercedes’ profile continues to rise in Chicago, even as some looked at his storybook start as a fluke.

Nicknamed “the Yerminator” on Twitter a few years ago after he launched a monstrous home run in spring training, Mercedes already has his own burger at Freddie’s (costing $4.85 after his 485-foot home run against the Kansas City Royals). Goose Island’s new brew was inspired by Mercedes, called “Rule 5 Draft” on the suggestion of Sox fan who saw that Mercedes came to the team in the Rule 5 draft.

The Sox marketing department even created a “Yerminator” video last month, a takeoff on the “Terminator” movie franchise.

“We had a ton of fun doing the parody to ‘The Terminator,’” Sox marketing chief Brooks Boyer said Thursday. “But even when we were talking about it, we we’re like, ‘Get this thing rolling, because it’s fun to do when he’s rolling.’ He’s continued to roll, and he’s fun.”

The Sox have not had a rookie quite like this since 2014, when Abreu earned AL Rookie of the Year honors. But Abreu already was a known commodity after starring in Cuba and came to the Sox amid much hype.

Eloy Jimenez hit 31 homers two years ago as a rookie, and Ron Kittle burst onto the scene in 1983 with 35 home runs. But rookies also can become busts after hot starts, as the Sox know well.

Matt Davidson hit 26 homers in 2017, and Daniel Palka finished with 27 the following year. Both are out of the majors. Mike Caruso was supposed to be the next big thing in 1998 when he hit .306 as a rookie, but he also committed 35 errors at shortstop and lasted only two more years in the majors with the Sox and Royals.

Many promising prospects, including current executive vice-president Ken Williams, Josh Fields and Gordon Beckham, put up solid numbers as rookies but regressed.

Progress is not always linear.

The Sox are cashing in on Mercedes’ popularity, and with capacity rising from 25% to 60% at Sox Park the next homestand and the team starting to play up to expectations, this could be the Summer of Yermín.

“We had one order of Yerminator T-shirts sell out on the first homestand, and his jerseys go really fast,” Boyer said. “We’ve said a lot of guys’ body identify with Yermín, so those jerseys go. On top of it, he’s got a big, fun personality and just loves playing baseball. It’s good for baseball.”

The sight of Mercedes at the All-Star Game in Coors Field would be a treat, and a Home Run Derby invitation would be even better.

Will Mercedes continue his ascent, or is that too much to ask for from a guy who took a decade to make it to the majors?

No one knows.

Instead of worrying about the future, Sox fans should enjoy it while it lasts.