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Brad Holt And Jenrry Mejia Dominate In B-Mets Debuts

Brad Holt, of the USS Enterprise.

Brad Holt, of the USS Enterprise.

After dominating in the first 8 turns of the St. Lucie rotation, Brad Holt and Jenrry Mejia were simultaneously promoted to AA Binghamton 3 days ago, with Holt debuting Saturday, Mejia Sunday. In 41.1 innings for St. Lucie, Holt had an excellent 50/10 K/BB ratio. Mejia posted 44 K and 16 BB in 40.1 inning, but had the better ERA at 1.94. On Friday, Bradley pitched well, but in an uncharacteristic way. He struck out  3 and walked 3, while inducing 11 groundouts to 5 flyouts. Mejia, not to be outdone, pitched 7.0 innings, struck out 5, walked 3, and got 11 groundouts and 3 flyouts.

Holt and Mejia, ranked the 4th and 7th Mets prospects respectively before the season by both BA and BP, share more similarities than just fast success. Both pitchers have birthdays in the second week of October; Holt will turn 23 this year, while Mejia will just be 20. Both are fastball-first pitchers, who have made tremendous strides on their secondary offerings. Holt's great strikeout numbers and classic power pitcher makeup attracted due attention to his heater last season, but Mejia's may be just as good. Kevin Goldstein wrote before the season:

[Mejia] has the best pure arm in the system—even topping Holt at Brooklyn—with a fastball that sits at 94-97 mph consistently and touches 99.

Entering this season, both pitchers threw a "slurve," but are now throwing what seems to be more curveball than hybrid.

In terms of pitching-style, however, Holt and Mejia are different. Many of you have probably already read the contradictory John Manuel quote from last year: "[Holt] sounds like he might be Mike Pelfrey with a bit less downhill or sink, a better breaking ball and considerably less hype." All the reasons Manuel gave against his own comparison have since become more and more true, as Holt demonstrated none of Pelfrey's groundball tendencies and has improved his curveball. The Pelfrey comparison may be more apt for Mejia instead, who sported an incredible 66.0% GB rate in A+ ball. By contrast, Pelfery, who pitched in St. Lucie 3 years older than  Jenrry, has a career 54.7% GB rate in the minors. Mejia's groundball tendencies come from his big fastball and 88 mph changeup that has a little sinking action. Grounders are also the reason Mejia has been able to outperform Holt so far this season:

Name GB% K% BB% tRA
Holt 41.0 31.21 7.51 3.48
Mejia 66.0 21.05 7.66 2.36

Most people talk about these guys downside as being power relievers, because of their dominating fastballs and questionable secondary offerings. Given Mejia's groundball tendencies, and his age, he figures to have plenty of time to develop secondary pitches that he may not have to rely on too much. The rate of attrition for pitchers is high, hence the phrase "There is no such thing as a pitching prospect," but it's hard not to be excited about these guys. Given Flores' and Martes' struggles and Fernando's promotion, Holt and Mejia may be considered the Mets top-two prospects soon. You pick the order.

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I love this.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Jun 7, 2009 9:23 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Now if someone would...

…beg Minaya not to panic, I’ll be happy. I’d rather keep the young core and maintain these exciting young arms in the farm system, as opposed to blowing it all up in a desperate attempt to win it all this season. But, I feel a Victor Zambrano trade blowing in the wind.

by djbutler73 on Jun 7, 2009 10:35 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I don't see a Zambrano-esque trade happening

Remember, Duquette made that deal in a misguided attempt to be competitive in the short term because his job was in question. Minaya’s job, on the other hand, is not in jeopardy despite how in the AA community feel about him. His three year extension begins next year and it’s hard to imagine the ownership turning its back on him even if this season goes south. For the purposes of this discussion, I find that very settling as it greatly reduces the odds that he makes a panic trade that costs the club in the long term.

by Zwill on Jun 7, 2009 11:03 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I'm not as confident in this as you are

As long as the Phillies remain in 1st, but don’t build enough of a lead to put the Mets away early, the narrative is going to be about the Mets finishing second to the Phils for the third straight year. This means the pressure is going to be on Omar to not let this happen. All of this makes it highly possible that players like these could be dealt in a panic style trade.

by Reg Dunlop on Jun 7, 2009 12:01 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

It's a fair concern

but I think we should have a little faith in Omar in this regard. We can raise serious questions about his judgment and understanding of player values but I don’t think we can question his motives. The pressure to which you refer has been on him for nearly five years and for the most part he has not made any panic moves during the season. In reviewing his in-season trade history with the Mets, it’s hard to find instances in which he unloaded young talent or strong prospects for short-term help. Perhaps the Nady/Hernandez or Castillo deals could be considered in that vein but those deals were actually pretty defensible.

by Zwill on Jun 7, 2009 12:49 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

This is great stuff

As you say, no such thing as a pitching prospect, but I’m really psyched about these two.

by jasondg on Jun 7, 2009 10:49 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I'm sorry

did you say “88 mph change-up”? I like the sound of that.

How does one pronounce Mejia? I can’t get into him until I can say his name

by HotChipWillBreakYourLegs on Jun 7, 2009 11:09 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I believe it's Meh-hee-ya

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Jun 7, 2009 11:17 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

And

his first name is Henry.

Henry Meh-hee-ya

by supermets on Jun 7, 2009 11:29 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Thank you both

I’d been wondering about that myself.

Really, Jerry?

by Prince on Jun 7, 2009 12:20 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I was wrong

It’s actually en-REE MAY-ha

by supermets on Jun 7, 2009 12:24 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

where did you here that?

Henry Meh-hee-ya looks and sounds right to me

"We must win and we must know how to win rather than win because we have statistical people."

by Evan_S on Jun 7, 2009 12:25 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I guess I'm not 100% sure of anything

but I found that here

Mejia (whose name is pronounced en-REE MAY-ha) is in his third pro season after signing as a free agent in 2007.

by supermets on Jun 7, 2009 1:33 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I remember watching him make some starts for BK on SNY last year

And I’m pretty sure they were pronouncing it Meh-hey-ya

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Meddler on Jun 7, 2009 4:45 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

en-REE Meh-HEE-ya, apparently

Thus spake the B-Mets media relations’ department, at least.

by TedBerg on Jun 7, 2009 6:59 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Haha thanks for the clarification Ted

I’m sure as he ages, his name will cause many a conundrum for opposing broadcasters.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Meddler on Jun 7, 2009 7:54 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I'm pretty sure it's Henry...

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Jun 7, 2009 12:29 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

+1

Haha

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Meddler on Jun 7, 2009 4:45 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Excellent

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Jun 7, 2009 8:41 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Some non-Holt and Mejia stuff

Duda went 3 for 4 yesterday, 2 doubles (though, 0-4 in the other game).

Ruben Tejada went yard.

Dylan Owen, 4 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 5 K.

Wilmer went 2 for 3 with a double and a walk.

Kunz wasn’t ruff, striking out 4 in 3 IP while giving up a run. Most importantly, perhaps: 0 BB.

Oh, and Lance Broadway got shelled. 7 ER in 4.2 IP.

by jasondg on Jun 7, 2009 8:48 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Glad we traded Castro for him.

And Ruben Tejada going yard is always great to hear.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Jun 7, 2009 9:16 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

At least we got good value for Castro.

Also, I’m extremely impressed with Tejada. He had no business in St. Lucie last year and I though he shouldn’t have been promoted this year, but he’s playing surprisingly well. He’s drawing walks, not striking out a lot, and his .280/.373/.385 in AA is significantly better than his .229/.289/.296 A+, and he’s still just 19. Only thing I don’t know is how he is defensively, I believe I’ve read he’s pretty good I’m not sure.

"We must win and we must know how to win rather than win because we have statistical people."

by Evan_S on Jun 7, 2009 9:40 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Tejada

He’s considered very good with the glove, the question has always been whether his bat will play. If he can keep hitting like he is in AA and not fall back to last year’s “hitting,” he has a future.

by mookstra2 on Jun 7, 2009 9:54 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

That's good

A 19 year old middle infielder whose a plus defender and seems to have a pretty good eye at the plate could definitely be useful. All he has to do is be a decent hitter and Tejada can really help as a second basemen in two years or so.

"We must win and we must know how to win rather than win because we have statistical people."

by Evan_S on Jun 7, 2009 10:15 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

f this season....

….if injuries keep screwing us. no way omar should mortgage the future for just this season. if he could get someone who has long-term potential to help (i.e. adrian gonzalez, roy halladay, etc.), fine. otherwise, win or lose with what we have this year.

by Les Gomez on Jun 8, 2009 3:10 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

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