RHP Jenrry Mejia, the top pitching prospect in the Mets organization, made his Arizona Fall League debut on Wednesday. He illustrated very clearly in 39 pitches over the span of an inning plus, why he’s so well regarded as a prospect, and just how far he is from reaching his lofty ceiling.
The box score numbers from his Surprise Rafters 6-4 win over the Peoria Javelinas, illustrate his primary problem Wednesday: 1 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 1 K. Forget command, that is locating within the strike zone, Mejia was having trouble throwing strikes at all.
Pitch fx is kinder to Mejia than the box score. Mejia’s 22 fastballs averaged 95.5 mph, and he touched 98 repeatedly. That’s pretty special. His 13 changeups were all between 86 and 89 mph, with most at 87 or 88. He threw four curveballs, two at 78 and one each at 77 and 79, the latter of which produced his only strikeout, on a called third strike to end the first inning.
The only hit Mejia gave up, a triple to leftfield, came on a changeup, which looks to be about thigh-high, middle in.
The twittering classes were all abuzz. And yes, I get many baseball goodies from Twitter these days. You can follow me at (@tobyhyde).
ESPN’s Keith Law (@keithlaw) offered the following:
-More Jenrry: changeup 84-87 with + fade/tail and he finished the inning by striking out Lucroy on a curveball.
-Mejia out on pitch count. Command was poor but velo, CH were good. I’ll blog more about him later this week.
Baseball America’s Ben Badler (@benbadler), responding to a question from NY Baseball Digest’s Joe DeMayo about how Mejia projects:
-”@jdemayoNYBD Upside is potential outstanding starter, but command, secondary need work. If not, and w/ his mechanics, possible relief ace”
And Baseball Prospectus’ Kevin Goldstein (@kingclip) responded to our own Nick M’s question:
-Both. RT @nmigliore: @kingclip should i be happy he threw so hard or be worried about his subpar control?
Recommended reading:
At the Daily News, Adam Rubin wrote a glowing piece on Mejia. The piece includes a nice story about his audition with the Mets and the apparently brief negotiations that made him a Met.
Right now, I would be more excited about the “stuff”. Command wasn’t really a problem this season for him, was it?
Besides, when was the last time he pitched in a real game? 4 weeks ago? That could certainly account for some of the rust.
If they can get a competant pitching coach working with him (do the Mets have any in the organization?) to fine tune the pitches, and his mechanics, and of course being the mets he stays healthy, they could have something special.
mejia never had high walk totals/problems before his finger injury.
wondering if that’s messing with him.