Minors: Quotes about Jenrry Mejia as a Closer
In a chat for Scouting the Sally, Mike Newman talked with Adam Foster of Project Prospect about a variety of players throughout the minor leagues, including prospects from the Mets.
Foster was asked about Mets 20–year-old pitching prospect Jenrry Mejia, and said:
“He has max-effort arm action. His windup is really calm, then he fires through. That makes him really deceptive and some guys pull off his kind of delivery as starters. But I don’t think he will. He’s arm action is inconsistent. That’s why he has trouble throwing strikes. H e’s someone who has probably gotten more hype than he deserves this offseason. The raw stuff is there, but I don’t see a frontline starter.”
Later, Newman talked of Mejia as well, adding:
“Durability seems to be the biggest issue with Mejia. You obviously give a player of his talent every opportunity to stick in the rotation, but I believe he will wind up a closer long term based on conversations I’ve had with people who have some ties to the Mets organization.”
According to Adam Rubin of the Daily News, Jerry Manuel traveled to Arizona last November to gauge whether Mejia may be able to help the Mets in the bullpen in early 2010.
Earlier this month, prospect guru John Sickels put Mejia No. 1 on his list of the team’s Top 20 Mets Prospects for Minor League Ball, during which Sickels posts a grade and commentary for each player.
In a report last October for ESPN.com, Keith Law described Mejia as, ‘The most impressive arm so far,’ in the Arizona Fall League.
According to Law, if Mejia can command his pitches better, and throw his curve ball more often, “he’s a potential No. 1 or No. 2 starter.”
Mejia was 0–5 with a 4.47 ERA in 10 starts and 47 strike outs in 44 innings at Double-A.
…i have every intention of spending a lot of time this spring watching mejia in minor-league camp, and i’ll do my best to get video and pictures for you guys to decide what’s what for yourselves…
By the way, if you’re interested in tracking prospects around baseball, be sure to check out Foster’s Digital Prospect Guide, which is outstanding, here.
