The Mets are another team that loves to rush prospects, and right now things are going well with RHP Jenry Mejia. He began the year going 4-1, 1.97 with a 44/16 K/BB in 50 innings for St. Lucie, with a 2.21 GO/AO ratio in nine starts. Promoted to Double-A Binghamton earlier this month, he's 0-2 in three starts, but with a 2.25 ERA and a 17/7 K/BB in 16 innings, with 17 hits allowed. I like the fact that he's maintained his strong GO/AO, with a 2.22 mark so far in the Eastern League. Mejia is just 19 years old, and skipped low Class A, having pitched in the New York-Penn League last year. He posted a 3.49 ERA in 57 innings for Brooklyn, with a 52/23 K/BB. In 66 combined this year, he has a 2.04 ERA with a 61/23 K/BB. The fact that he's maintained virtually identical ratios at a higher level of competition is a really good sign, especially given his age. As with Stanton, I'd leave him in Double-A the rest of the season. I gave him a Grade C+ "but with a very high ceiling" rating in the book. I'm jumping that up to Grade B+ now, and he could be a Grade A- or perhaps even a Grade A by the end of this season.
John Sickels discusses Jenrry Mejia
I warned you guys, hype explosion in progress. This is very, very high praise from Mr. Sickels.
8 months ago
Mark Himmelstein
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Sickels gives very few A's. This is significant.
We’re going to be pissed when he gets traded for DeRosa.
Nothing can get by him; especially in a small room: Mike Francessa
by GenJackRipper on Jun 20, 2009 8:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Yeah
A jump from C+ straight to B+ in half a season is suggesting a huge amount of progress, and he seems to think its only going to continue in the second half.
"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet
What a fool I was to defy him"
-HST
by Mark Himmelstein on Jun 20, 2009 8:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Wow, that's really, really good.
Sickels doesn’t give any As. F! was a B+ this year, right?
"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw
by squid92 on Jun 20, 2009 9:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Yup
Pretty sure Wilmer and F! were 1 and 2 and the only B+’s the Mets got.
"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet
What a fool I was to defy him"
-HST
by Mark Himmelstein on Jun 20, 2009 9:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Speaking of prospects . . .
not to thread-jack here, but an impressive performance from tonight:
Jon Niese – 7 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K, 7 GO, 6 FO. He even got his second win of the year.
"He's definitely mixing it into his repertoire. That's French for 'repertoire' " - Keith Hernandez
by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Jun 20, 2009 9:47 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Yay for results!!!!
Its about time Niese strings together some good outings, and he’s been pretty awesome for his last three if I’m remembering correctly.
"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet
What a fool I was to defy him"
-HST
by Mark Himmelstein on Jun 20, 2009 10:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I remember watching Mejia last year
thinking, who is this guy? I have reasonably good knowledge of the Mets system, but I don’t know this dude?
He was impressive then, even though he was much more raw. He would dominate for a few innings at a time, then lose the zone and walk a few, but you could see this guy had some serious talent. You could tell he was a guy to watch. Now, a year later, and I am starting to get really excited. You never want to drop a comparison like this on a kid that age, but just watching him throw the first guy I thought of was Pedro. Gets enormous action and movement on his pitches, and throws with an explosiveness for a smaller guy. I remember him having a nice, sharp curveball, though inconsistent, and from what you read about him now, that is his third pitch and he doesn’t even really need to use it. Lets just keep our fingers crossed and pray he stays on the field, because he is moving QUICKLY.
If he finishes the year like this, it looks like he could wind up seeing big league action as soon as next year. I always thought of this kid as intriguing, and was already excited enough based on his performance this year, but too see Sickels talk about Mejia the way he did really brings my excitement over this guy to a new level.
How many 19 year old pitchers are in double A, this guy has barely been playing pro ball for a year now. And not only has he hung around through 3 starts, he has excelled and shown flashes of dominance. If Holt and Mejia continue to progress and become what we expect them too, that would be enormous. Omar Minaya deserves a lot of credit here, as these small latin american signings seem to be his specialty. That, and finding guys like Nieve or Sheffield, or other teams castoffs who still can play.
JENRRY!!!
"It's like the old phrase goes.....The balls in your court now Mr.Church, so you take that ball, you dribble it up the court and....................................... get a layup"
- Keith Hernandez
by nrmax88 on Jun 21, 2009 1:48 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Remind me more of RoyOswalt
than Pedro. Good fastball with downward movement, good curve, and sinking change up.
by Pelferized on Jun 21, 2009 4:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
The Mets are another team that loves to rush prospects . . .
Outside of Generation K, or rather directly in response to it, I thought we had developed a reputation for exactly the opposite.
It seems like the “youth movement” is mostly predicated by all the injuries.
by theflicker on Jun 21, 2009 9:15 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
The Omar/Bernazard regime
Likes to rush hitting and tend to be more patient with pitching — Gomez, F!, Flores, Marte were all moved quickly through the system, to some degree of criticism.
by jasondg on Jun 21, 2009 9:31 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah
Pitching sometimes, too. Big Pelf, Guerra, Mejia, but generally they take more individual approaches to pitchers. And they almost always rush their “toolsy” hitters, Tejada too, Veloz, Milledge. The less “toolsy” types they tend to take more time with like Thole, Havens, and Davis.
"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet
What a fool I was to defy him"
-HST
by Mark Himmelstein on Jun 21, 2009 1:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
you're right
And that seems almost perfectly backwards to me. Aren’t the toolsy hitters the ones who benefit from a little more time to adjust their timing and pitch selection at each level of the minors, while the “less toolsy” (=high-OBP?) hitters might translate to the majors more easily?
by anonymous on Jun 21, 2009 4:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Psha
What’s OBP when you’ve got speed and a good arm?
Yeah, lots of what this organization does seems backwards.
"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet
What a fool I was to defy him"
-HST
by Mark Himmelstein on Jun 21, 2009 5:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
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