19
2011
Jenrry Mejia Tabbed To Start Spring Opener
An article by Craig Lerner
Here is the low-down on the first three games of the Mets 2011 Spring Schedule.
Saturday, February 26th
Jenrry Mejia will get the ball for the Spring Training opener, a 1:00 PM start against the Atlanta Braves. The game will be broadcast live on WPIX and WFAN.
Sunday, February 27th
The Mets will have a split squad on Sunday.
Chris Capuano is scheduled to face the University of Michigan at Digital Domain Park in a 12:10 PM start.
The second game will be on the road against the Atlanta Braves at 1:05 PM. The starting pitcher has yet to be decided but will be either Pat Misch, Chris Young or Oliver Perez. The game can be heard on WFAN.
Monday, February 28th
Mike Pelfrey gets the assignment against the Washington Nationals. The game has a 1:10 PM start time and will be televised live on SNY.
Click here to see the Mets’ complete spring TV/Radio Broadcast Schedule.
Can’t wait to hear Gary, Keith and Ron again! I’v very interested to hear their comments on the Mets offseason, the new front office, and of course, you know what.
About the Author: Craig Lerner
I'm a data analyst and researcher for a leading news agency who loves life and is hooked on the Mets. I love following the Amateur Draft and have a particular fondness for the Mets Minor Leagues who I follow each day. Give me a cold beer, a summer day, and a Mets game, and I'm good to go.
113 Comments + Add Comment
NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 23 | 18 | .561 | - |
| Nationals | 23 | 19 | .548 | 0.5 |
| Phillies | 20 | 22 | .476 | 3.5 |
| Mets | 16 | 23 | .410 | 6.0 |
| Marlins | 11 | 31 | .262 | 12.5 |
Last updated: 05/18/2013
Recent Comments
- Michelle K.: on Mets vs Cubs: Hefner Looks To Extend Amazins’ Win Streak To Three: They need to take 2 of 3...
- Scott Rice's Arm: on Mets vs Cubs: Hefner Looks To Extend Amazins’ Win Streak To Three: Russell has nothing on me. I'll break...
- Ojeda's Perm: on Mets vs Cubs: Hefner Looks To Extend Amazins’ Win Streak To Three: Valdespin is sitting between Buck and Wright...
- Seth: on Mets vs Cubs: Hefner Looks To Extend Amazins’ Win Streak To Three: This team doesn't play hard for Collins....
- Al: on Mets vs Cubs: Hefner Looks To Extend Amazins’ Win Streak To Three: Keith's new word is lazy .definition ...
MMO Mets Chat
Need Tickets To The Mets Game?
Check Out These Great MLB Links!
Photographs From Gordon Donovan
5357 Fans Follow Us On Twitter!
1270 Fans Like Us On Facebook!
2341 Fans Read Our Feed!
1702 Fans Subscribe via Daily Email!
With Mejia already ticketed for the Bison rotation, I certainly have no issue with restricting the familiarity one of our main competiotors has to experiencing our rotation rather I commend it Mejia & Misch both unlikely/improbable for our rotation, who cares how much Atlanta gets to see them one less appearnce vs Braves by Pelf,RA,Young,Cap,Jon is our advantage not there’s it’s a relatively little thing both Jerry & Willie discounted while I’m glad to see TC looking for even the most insignificant advantage.
So now you’re believing that the kid is ticketed for AAA too? Even before ST starts..no chance of a surprise huh? Amazing.
Remember when ST was about letting them compete and may the best man win? Now young rookies have to hear that they have no shot to make big club…before the competition even starts…not good at all.
Bayonne, it’s time to stop having good kids broken on the rocks of MLB competition befotre they’re properly prepared for it. younger than 23 yr olds with minimal MiLB seasoning are not entitled to those BIG dreams. they certainly need to pay their dues properly. Cetainly young phenoms exist; but to think Tejada & Mejia can be other Reyeses is ludicrously defying the probabilities.
Who is saying that? Nobody is saying or has said they expect anybody to be another Reyes or whoever. I’m just saying let them compete first before making any kind of public declaration.
The Mets have decided based on their discussions that what is best for Mejia is AAA.
These are people far more knowledgeable than you and I so you have to respect that they are acting in Mejia’s best interest by starting him in AAA.
If he has a great Spring and gets off to a great 1st half down in AAA that gives us something to look forward to if the big league team struggles.
Mejia and the Mets are best served by him learning his craft as a professional starting pitcher. Commanding and controlling his secondary pitches, establishing a 5 day routine of Pitch, run/workout, bullpen/long toss, run/workout, game plan, pitch, will serve us both the best.
One of the really huge parts of pitching is facing the same hitters 3 times a game, 4
times a season and thinking ahead of them, making adjustments, learning the gig beyond being able to put a two strike or 3 ball curve where you want.
We so rarely have such a truly talented prospect and we always have so many needs on the major league level that young players never get to learn to make theses sorts of adjustments in the minors which leads to long periods of ineffectiveness, loss of confidence and ultimately the waste of a year of team control before they were ready to give us a good season.
Continuity and routine will bring success, success will bring confidence. No need to rush the kid again. We’re going to need a starting pitcher next year too and most Major League teams employ 10, 11 or 12 different starting pitchers every year. Maybe he can establish his routine, get comfortable, work on a few things, gain some confidence by having success and come up here for 5-8 starts when he’s in mid season form.
T, welcome to the choir. As we all expect this team to be around .500 or slightly above ther’s absolutely no reason why our best MiLB talents aren’t given every opportunity to ferment properly.
Exactly ’62, It’s all part of properly developing our young talent rather than “filling holes.” No other organization in MLB repeatedly puts their young prospects in positions where it is more likely they will fail than succeed.
By the way, good point about us not showing the Braves our new pitchers right off the bat.
“Mejia and the Mets are best served by him learning his craft as a professional starting pitcher. Commanding and controlling his secondary pitches, establishing a 5 day routine of Pitch, run/workout, bullpen/long toss, run/workout, game plan, pitch, will serve us both the best.”
Why can’t he do that in the majors? If he’s better than all the other starters we have, then why can’t he win the job?
You go with the players that give you the best chance of winning, if Mejia is that guy, then he should come up.
Vinnie consider this: HALLADAY,LEE,HAMELS,OSWALT,BLANTON is Mejia’s being added to PRLFREY,DICKEY,NIESE,YOUNG,CAPUANO likely going to make a substantial difference? How successful have we been in this pursuit of every year contention? While those NYY are hands down the most successfully titledf MLB franchise with 27 WS flags, STL is the NL equivilent with 10 followed by SF(6) & LAD(6) and of those 3 exactly how many 21/22 yr old SP have there been? If u wish to emulate someone’s results/acheievements than you’d best begin with their practices & procedures. at 21/22 there’s reason to doubt the musculature is fully developed, preliminary over stressing may cause improper physiological development.
Most of the successful pitchers aged 23-30 have come up through the minors AFTER pitching in college for 3 years and receiving the best coaching, medical, facilities and training techniques.
The DR is advanced in some, but not all of those things. To expect a 16 year old to have received the same type of foundation that a Lincecum, Drabek or a Pelfrey has is more than stretching things to say the very least.
Most teams, and all successful one’s, plan for a placeholder in a spot for a year or two in order to avoid rushing their young prospects.
Atlanta did that with Glaus/Lee at 1B last year and this year will bring up Freddie Freeman (2nd round 2006) when HE’s ready. And that’s a first basemen, not a pitcher.
Last year there was the perfect bookmark for our starting rotation, a guy who had 2 years of good and great performance under Dave Duncan, wasn’t coming off injury and signed for just 2 years/16 M. He wouldn’t have even cost a draft choice like Bay did and he would have really helped this year AND last.
Someday this organization will learn that you cannot make up for the lack of work or mistakes you made in prior years by rushing your young prospects or lavishing wheelbarrows of cash on Type A free agents.
But if Mejia shows he’s better than Capuano then it will make a difference because, you want to bring up the players that give you the best chance of winning making the team – you go with the best guys.
We can’t worry about the Phillies and what they are doing – Who knows, maybe Lee or Halladay gets hurt? We can’t just give up on our team, because the other team looks really good. Nobody knows how the season will play out, so we should bring up the guys who give us the best chance of winning.
Because you can’t just think about today. You have to be thinking about the next 2,3,5, years etc etc.
If he’s ready for the majors RIGHT NOW, and is the best guy for the job, and he comes up, how does that hurt the future?
Because ST is just part of the evaluation process. Perhaps everything they’ve seen previously tells them he’s better off working on his stamina before bringing him to the big leagues.
Its not just how good he throws a glorified batting practice. Think big picture.
So ST is just a glorified batting pratcie huh? Tell that to Brad Emaus, Luis Castillo, And Daniel Murphy. I wonder if they would a agree with that?
Is it really so difficult to comprehend that S.T. is different things for different people depending on where they are at any one particular time?
In Mejia’s case he is so young and has so little experience at being a starter above AA that the Mets feel he is best served getting some work in at AAA before deciding if he is ready to be a MLB Starter.
It’s really not that much more complicated than that for the most part.
For Brad Emaus, Luis Castillo, And Daniel Murphy it’s about showing them that they can be an everyday 2b.
For Pelfrey it’s about getting his mechanics and timing in sync in prep 4 the season.
For Izzy it’s showing that he has enough stuff still to be a good pitcher out of the pen.
For KRod it’s the same as pelf. getting his work in to be ready 4 the season.
For Nieunweis it’s about getting a feel of what a big league camp is like and go down to AAA and use what he learns from the Major Leaguers to aid him in however it best fits and as something to motivate him to be in the bigs permanantly.
S.T. means different things to different players. This has been the case for as long as I know.
Vinny I already addressed that arguement. ST is a good place to have a competition between 2,3, or 4 imperfect players at a position but come the first 10-15 games (real games) if the winner isn’t performing, what he did in ST isn’t gonna mean s**t.
ST may be OK to decide on a a starting position player because that’s all there is to go on. Not to see how close your top prospect is.
By the looks of things in ST last year Mejia looked outstanding. I disagreed with the idea of putting him in the pen though and I vehemently disagreed with Manuel not wanting him to show anything but his cutter.
Despite how good he looked in ST last year when the games counted how did he look? Or do you feel that ST games are a better indicator of how ready a prospect is than regular season games?
What really is the goal here? To develop prospects that help you win baseball games or that look good in ST?
Tell me the truth Vinny. If our starting rotation was Linsecum, Cain, Sanchez and Bumgarner would you want to bring Mejia North? I think it’s pretty obvious that you only want to consider him because of how few other options we have, not what’s best for him, or for us in the big picture.
Mistakes or lack of planning before hand can almost never be overcome by making more mistakes later.
It was a bad idea last year and would be an even worse one this year.
This is not how successful teams develop their high end prospects.
NJ, pitchers around the same age and had LESS minor league experience than Mejia played on major league teams – two guys that I know of are Grenike and Santana.
Agee, If I had those four Giants starters, it would depend on who my 5th guy would be. If i think the Mejia would be better than that 5th guy, yes I would say the same thing.
I’m not saying Mejia should win the job, what I’m saying is he should be given a chance to win it, and he shouldn’t be told he has no chance to make the team before he even throws ONE pitch.
“I’m saying is he should be given a chance to win it, and he shouldn’t be told he has no chance to make the team before he even throws ONE pitch.”
And again as of this moment the Mets simply disagree.
Mostly because he’s only thrown 250 innings in 4 professional seasons of which only 80 or so were above A+ ball including his 40 ineffective innings up here.
Last year he pitched 82 innings in 5 different leagues. I’ll bet he never even faced on single hitter 3 times in one game and 3 times in another.
The Majors is not where you learn those things, it’s where you employ those things you’ve learned in the minors.
Getting the worst years out of the players on your team is what causes an organization to have more losing seasons than winning ones over a 20 year period.
so? what does it mattter how many innings he pitched? If he shows he’s ready, and shows he’s the best guy for the job, should come up.
Mejia has pitched in more minor league games than Zack Greinkie before he was called up – he turned out fine.
Mejia also pitched in more game than Johan Santana before he picthed out of the Twins bullpen, and Santana never pitched above A ball before that – he turned out fine too.
If mejia is ready he should come up.
Define ready?
The Mets have decided based upon discussions with their professional staff that right now they feel what is best for Mejia is to start the year at AAA.
Despite what you and others may feel. This is what has been decided. That doesn’t mean your choice is a bad one. Maybe Mejia should be told he can audition to make the Mets MLB Team but if he is ready to join the team then him also going to AAA won’t hurt his development since if he’s ready he should tear up AAA Hitting.
If he does show he is ready and the big league club is struggling then expect to see a mid season call up for Mejia.
The point is you don’t want to yank this kid around up and down from AAA to the Bigs unless you know he is ready to stay in the bigs for good.
This is something that happens all the time in MLB so now it’s Mejia’s turn.
ST is OK for a competition between two guys but really isn’t suitable for determining how ready to play ML baseball a prospect is, especially a pitcher. Especially if that young pitcher is going all out, first day, trying to impress. That young pitcher could easily damage his arm that way.
How you do in league action over the course of an entire regular season will be the judge of your readiness, not 25 innings pitched while people are getting back into game shape and putting their timing together.
If it weren’t for the lack of planning, preperation, other prospects, other options the Met Fan wouldn’t even WANT Mejia up here this year. They would want him to come up here when he forces his way up through dominant start after dominant start in the minors. Not striking out Chipper Jones once or twice in ST.
Unless you think Chipper has been treating those AB’s exactly the way he treats regular or post season AB’s.
Somehow I don’t think he is. Don’t make the mistake of being fooled by ST “competiton.” It’s really only competition for about 20% of the guys there and no one’s watching video or anything before their AB’s.
It’s like the NFL combine compared to actual results in on field regular season college football games. Put 10% on their combine results and 90% on what they do in actual games that mean something, not the other way around.
Striking out Chipper Jones even if he isn’t treating the AB’s the same way as he would in the regular season, is more impressive than striking out a minor league hitter.
Not during regular league competition against guys fighting to get up here or get back up here. Please tell me you were kidding Vinny. I know you know better than that.
The games also get more serious towards the end. The organization will be able to tell by then if he not only has the stuff, but the mental makeup to go North with the big club.
That’s more important than any minor league game. We’ll see.
I disagree.
Santana was a rule 5. The Twins had to keep him on the roster all year. It was a forward thinking type move and as a LHP Santana was able to be a LOOGY for them.
Vinny, not all players advance at the same rate. There is a huge difference in coaching, training techniques, competition even just in American Legion ball vs growing up in the country in the DR.
David Clyde went straight from high school to the Majors and dominated in his first start. Does that mean every young pitcher should be asked to do the same?
“Vinny, not all players advance at the same rate.”
That’s EXACTLY my point! Maybe Mejia is ready to pitch in the majors RIGHT NOW – he’s very talented pitcher, so it’s possible. But we don’t know that yet, we will see how he looks in ST, then we will see if he’s ready or not.
Why can’t we see how he looks before we judge him? Why is that not ok?
Again, the Mets have decided based on everything they have seen so far that he should start at AAA.
In their eyes they have seen enough to feel he is not ready.
Zack Greinke was probably never asked by his manager to not throw any of his secondary offerings while he was learning how to pitch.
Totally different approach to prospect development.
If we had gone after Pinero last year Mejia just might have had a dominant season in AA last year, added to it with half a season in AAA this year and come up here with that under his belt in July with all his options remaining and no service time used up.
I can’t understand this obsession with getting players worst years instead of their best.
I can’t understand this obsession of judging pitchers before we actually see them pitch.
They have seen him pitch and they feel based on that he is not ready.
Lets see how he looks in ST. If he’s the best guy for the job he comes up, if not, he doesn’t – What’s wrong with that?
Again they have seen enough already to feel he is not ready.
You may disagree with it but the fact remains they don’t think he is ready.
I didn’t know Mejia pitched in any ST games already. I thought the 1st game was the 26th…..
Don’t be silly. You know I mean all of the 42 inning he pitched in the minors last year and the 5 innings he pitched in winterball.
Based on what they saw there they feel he hasnt shown enough to be considered to pitch on the major league roster.
How can you blame them. He has all of 8 innings of AAA experience under his belt.
Face it he hasn’t shown enough to say he is ready for the bigs. When he does I am sure he will be called up.
For now let the kid develop.
That’s last year. A lot of things can change in a year. Last year the Giants wern’t supposed to make the playoffs,now they are the defending WS champs.
Let’s see how he looks THIS year, then we will see if he’s ready or not.
Well the Mets dont agree with you Vinny.
They don’t think enough could have changed to merit letting him think he has a shot at making the bigs.
They think he is better served focusing on improving as a starter at AAA.
You guys know perfectly well that the first time around in a batting order the pitcher has the advantage and that the 2nd 3rd or 4th time things start to even out a little.
The same is true only to an even greater extent when a pitcher faces an entire line up for a 2nd, 3rd or 4th game.
That’s an important part in the development of a pitcher.
Mejia has most likely never even faced the same line up twice in one season in his entire 4 year professional career.
How is 100 ST AB’s going to make up for that?
Playing speedball with any prospect that shows they might be able to do anything at all because you failed to plan adequately for an upcoming season beforehand, not only hurts you during that season, it hurts you in future seasons too.
If Mejia had had 20 AA starts last year he might very possibly be ready to come up and compete successfully in the Majors this year. He didn’t. He was jackassed around between five different leagues, two different roles and two stints on the DL.
The chances that he got anything out of it other than one year closer to arbitration and a fancier hotel room while he was up here is just wishful thinking.
Vinny, You cannot compare a team with Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez, Bumgarner, Posey, Wilson (and Belt on deck) to a 21 year old with 250 professional innings under his belt 80 of which are above A ball.
I didn’t compare them.
My point was a lot can change in a year we can’t just look at what he did last year.
Maybe Mejia is more mature this year as a pitcher, and as a person. He could have grown a lot during the offseason.
Well why don’t we let him prove it and then bring him up rather than burning another option and year of team control based on a 100 AB’s in ST?
Why can’t he prove it in ST?
because the Mets dont think it would be a true gauge to know if he is ready or not most likely. They feel him pitching in AAA will be a better gauge on knowing if he is ready for the bigs or not.
Vinny, I don’t think you can really prove all that much in ST. Last year Mejia did prove he has the talent to play in the Majors but then he proved he wasn’t ready to use that talent to be effective up here.
What good did it do for him or us?
In ST he proved he can belong, in the season he proved it wasn’t yet. Let him show everyone by his performance in meaningfull baseball games over 20 starts his time is now.
“Vinny, I don’t think you can really prove all that much in ST.”
I wonder what Terry Collins would say about that, or Daniel Murphy? Do you believe that Murphy thinks that he can’t prove anything in ST?
I’m sorry, but I think it’s ridiculous that somebody who pitched in the majors last year, has already been told he has no chance of making the team before he even throws ONE picth. That makes no sense to me at all. What’s wrong with having him compeat for the job?
He hasn’t even thrown ONE pitch yet!…..and we are judging him already……………come on.
“I’m sorry, but I think it’s ridiculous that somebody who pitched in the majors last year, has already been told he has no chance of making the team before he even throws ONE picth. ”
Fair enough. You think it’s ridiculous and others don’t.
The competition in ST between two, three or 4 imperfect candidates for a position is one thing but if the winner than goes 7-54 w/4 errors in the first 15 games it ‘aint gonna mean s**t.
The door will have been opened and the competition is back on again. The fact that the first guy did better in ST will be scoffed at as a reason for him keeping his position in light of the more relevant results of actual meaningful games.
Clearly you feel that how a pitcher does against a line up he has faced a number of times before in actual league competition carries a lot less significance than how he does in 100 semi-meaningless AB’s in ST.
I couldn’t possibly disagree more and I just don’t get the idea of bringing him North until you have a really good feeling that he is ready to pitch up here for good.
ST is not proof of anything except potential. The proof of readiness will be by how he pitches in AAA.
What’s the rush anyway? Don’t you want him to have a real good idea of HOW to pitch when he gets up here? Did he look that way to you last April and May?
You do recall he was shut down in August last year right?
Be honest Vinny, Your hopeing aren’t you? Hopeing is fine for fans but it is no way to run a baseball team. Haven’t we had enough of that around here over the last two decades.
How he pitched last year doesn’t matter….Let’s see what he does THIS year. Does he have better control of his pitches? Has he matured as a pitcher and as a person? Is he stronger? That’s what we will find out in spring….and I don’t know how you can make a decsision about him without knowing if he has improved since last year.
What if Gee and Capuano look out of shape? And they are unimpressive? And what if Mejia is in great shape and really impresses everybody? Does he still have no chance, even if he’s clearly the best option?
Why can’t we see how he looks, and how all our other options look in ST before we judge him? . I don’t get it how we could make that decsision before we see him throw ONE pitch.
If ST was a place where those things could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt I could very well be swung over to your side of things but it isn’t. And it certainly isn’t worth risking jackassing him around again this year.
Successful teams do not do this with their prospects Vinny. They seek to put their prospects in the best possible position for success.
For a team that has so few high end prospects to risk wasting years of team control on one of them, as well as risk losing the ability to make roster moves because of wasting options on players not ready to contribute is beyond shortsighted.
Were you in favor of bringing him North last year based on his ST? I wasn’t. We didn’t even use him in any important situations. He got the easy innings and still pitched to a 4.62 ERA.
So you want to waste another year of team control hopeing he might be able to do better this year even though a full 1/3rd of last year was spent not working on his secondary pitches or on the DL based on the outcome of 100 AB’s that don’t even come in games that count.
I couldn’t possibly disagree more. This is exactly the type of shortsighted move that causes a team with the highest payroll to have more losing seasons than winning one’s.
In short it sounds like something Omar would have done. and come to think of it……
Again,
That was last year. 20/21 year olds can grow over the winter
Can we see if he’s stronger and mature first? You want to make a decision now based on what happened a yeaer ago? I don’t think life itself works that way so why should we start now?
What do you mean all successful teams put their prospects in the best possible position for success? There is one way of doing things? All prospects advance one way?
What if this is the best place for Mejia to be? It may not be but what if it is? You don’t know that and neither do I but I want to see first before making a decision. If he get bombed his first start then maybe he will go to AAA. But I think they’ll want to see him more first.
Let’s just see him first before declaring where he’ll be. Especially since he’s already had big league experience.
Why do you ABSOLUTELY want him in AAA now? What if he’s crossed the line from prospect to big leaguer already? Do you know that? I don’t even know it.
But I want to see first. That’s it.
“I don’t think life itself works that way so why should we start now?”
Life???
Dude we are talking about baseball.
I had no problem with bringing Mejia north last year. The one thing you’re right with is, they didn’t use him enough. They should have made him pitch in more games.
Pitchers have come up and pitched in the bullpen before. It was nothing new. Wainwright, Price, and Santana all started their careers in the bullpen.
So back to 2011, If he’s the best guy we have, then yes I would use up another year of team control. You can’t worry about contracts and stuff now – you go with the guys that give you the best chance to win.
Vinny the guy has 8 innings of AAA experience as a starter.
Let him go to AAA and prove he is ready to be a mlb starter.
Why rush a kid up based on what he does in what 5 starts or 25 innings pitched in S.T.?
The Mets again at this time do not agree with you Vinny. They would rather see him pitch down in AAA and decide if he is ready to be called up after 10,15,20 etc etc starts.
Again, guys with LESS minor league experience has pitched on major league teams before.
If Mejia is ready RIGHT NOW, then what’s the point of sending him down? We should decide in ST if he’s ready or not.
why is that not ok? If he’s ready, he comes up, if he’s not, he doesn’t. What’s wrong with that?
I want to see it first too. In real games, against guys who are fighting to get up here too, not against guys who are well established and just working towards being ready to go on April 1st.
If he’s ready he’ll let us know by his performance in AAA. Getting sent down a second year in a row, regardless of how he looks in ST, isn’t going to do anyone any good.
He didn’t throw any of his secondary pitches up here and he sure as hell didn’t throw any of them while he was on the DL.
He ended the season shut down.
He’s probably never faced the same line up twice in the same season in any of his four professional seasons so naturally we should throw him in there against Rollins, Victorinno, Utley, Howard, Brown, Ibanaez, Polanco and Ruiz twice in April of 2011.
Yeah, that would be a good idea. Then he could join all the rest of the guys we rushed, got exposed, got hurt, labeled a failure, tarred and feathered and ran out of town.
Maybe he Paul Wilson, Tim Leary and Bill pulsipher could file a class action law suit.
OK Vinny I think we are going in circles now for a while actually.
There is nothing more I can say that I have not said already to try to impress upon you why the team may have decided to do what they did.
Clearly it has done nothing to make you think otherwise so again I will let the season play out and see how things go.
Hopefully Mejia dominates so well that the cries to bring him up from Mets fans will be so loud the Mets won’t be able to ignore them and bring him up.
To close all i have left to add is
Lets Go Mets!!!
so agee what if he does go down after having a great spring training. Even after he shows poise, command under pressure, a different maturity than last year…all against players who are already stars and established.
What if does go down to AAA anyway? Young gets hurt and he comes up again in June and get blasted. What does it matter?
If he has a great spring training, has matured, & does well against established players especially towards the end of ST when the games start to matter, & he’s doing better than Gee, Capuano, Tanksley, or even Dicky….if that happens he should come North.
Let’s see how ST plays out first.
Bayonne,
If we’re not going to develop our prospects why don’t we just bring them all up straight from A+ ball? Sink or swim. That’s basically what we would be doing to Mejia.
He made 10 starts last year. Six in AA, 1 in AAA and three up here. During his 3 starts he averaged 20 pitches to get out of each inning. Not good. His era was also not good. He really showed nothing to indicate he belonged up here at all. Not in April, May, June or September. He did appear good by the numbers in AA and AAA but ended the season shut down in September.
I know he didn’t get to work on any of his off speed stuff the first half of the season, nor did he get to work on it while he was hurt. Somehow I doubt 40 IP in AA and AAA would have been enough time to improve any of his offerings.
Most teams have need for at least 5 additional starting pitchers throughout the course of the season.
He’s probably never in his whole professional career ever pitched to a line up twice in one season.
Now these are all very good reasons why he should start and pitch, bare minimum, the first half of the season in AAA that both you and Vinny apparently don’t believe have any validity what so ever, however you both seem to feel that “looking good” in ST outweighs every thing else. He looked good in ST last year, remember?
I find that really hard to believe from you two but I accept that you both fell that we should rush yet another unprepared, under developed rookie, use up another one of his options, another year of team control, delay his development by another year and suffer through another uninspiring season from him before sending him back down.
Maybe we could give him 20 – 25 starts in AAA in 2012 and he could help us up here in 2013.
agee i’m not saying to not develop a prospect, just maybe he’s developed to the point where he’s ready. We’ll see this ST if he’s ready or not yet.
You don’t know the answer and neither do I.
If I felt Mejia wasn’t a good prospect or not ready to contribute I’d say it now, but he has a chance. Maybe he’s turned the corner? I don’t know that yet.
And for the 100th time, just because he didn’t stick around last year does not mean he won’t again this year. Let’s just see him pitch first.
And should I feel this way about all prospects or candidates? No. Of course not. Some circumstances are different than others.
This guy has a chance to make the team this year and let’s see if he’s ready. If not, he’ll go back down.
You mean if he looks good, like he did last year rather then waiting and seeing if he pitches good over 15 consecutive games in AAA, comes up in mid season form with real success above A ball level showing command, control and confidence. Showing the ability to execute a game plan against the same line up a 2nd time. Showing the ability to have 9 pitch innings, get GB’s when he needs them, make adjustments ON the mound. See if he’s progressed beyond last year despite making only 10 starts and spending time on the DL.
One question. How will we know if his looking good this ST is any different than his looking good in last ST?
How about he has to look better than last year?
He could pitch 15 consecutive games in AAA come up and be a bust. Or he could have a good spring, go down and be a bust in AAA.
“One question. How will we know if his looking good this ST is any different than his looking good in last ST?”
Maybe he has more of a presence on the mound? As stated earlier maybe that presence is because he grew? Or he’s matured over the winter?
Maybe he has more poise during in-game pressure spots than last year? Maybe because it was his first time he may have been a little nervous? Although he probably wouldn’t say it. Maybe there’s 2 or 3 more MPH on his fb? Maybe that increase speed will help accent his changeup more than last year? Maybe he’s not as intimidated by big leaguers this time? And maybe he’s doing this all at the same time Gee, Capuano, Tanskesley, & Niese may be faltering?
Or maybe he’s exactly the same as last year, hasn’t grown, still has a baby face, no increased command or mound presence…and he goes back down. Maybe his coming north this time is under different circumstances altogether than last year.
If he’s feeling confident and showing tremendous poise we bring him North and ride the wave. Or you short circuit it and send him back down
The decision to bring him up this time may be different than the decision to bring him up last time.
Spring Training competition will help decide that.
Vinny,
Mejia has probably never faced the same line up even a second time just once in his entire professional career as a starting pitcher. If you don’t think this is an important part of a pitchers development we are not going to agree on this issue. I think it is a very important part of pitching and going the other way, hitting too. It is a part of a prospects development that allows them to make adjustments sooner rather than latter.
Practically speaking it doesn’t make any sense to run the very likely risk of burning his 2nd option and using up even more of his team controlled years before he has this foundation beneath him.
This is not what successful teams do with their promising young talent. Maybe that’s one of the reasons their successful.
If the Mets had any really good options at SP Mejia wouldn’t even be considered for this years starting rotation for one simple reason, he hasn’t had a dominant season in one league in his entire professional career. The fact that we didn’t plan ahead and work toward the starting rotation for 2011 beforehand is no reason to compound that mistake with another and be in the same position in 2012 or 2013.
And we all saw him pitch last year and while we all can see the talent and promise I don’t think any thought he was even remotely ready based on what he did when he was up.
With 80 IP in 5 different leagues last year while being jackassed back and forth between them, starting and relieving and the DL, no winter ball just exactly how much do you think it is LIKELY that he has put it all together in the off season?
Very likely? Possible? or not likely?
I fall squarely on not likely. that’s why I am against risking the loss of yet another of his options, using more of his 6 years of team control and risking yet another season of development.
A lot can change in a year. lets’ see how he looks THIS year, then we will decide if he should make the team our not.
ok?
Sorry Vinny,
I disagree. I want to see him force his way up here. Then I’ll know he’s ready. I’m not using up yet another of his options and more service time until I know he’s ready, or at the very least believe it 90%.
ST isn’t going to prove anything, it’s how he does in regular season league competition by guys in mid season that form that will show where he is.
25 IP against vets rounding into form in meaningless games isn’t going to prove much.
What if he forces his way into the rotation during spring training? Just because he got sent down last year means he should go down again? What if he’s better? What if he’s grown, matured, & has more command? Let’s see first. Sometimes sending a kid back down when he’s obviously won the job could hurt his development
Again, The Mets based on what the observed up until he last pitched saw enough to garner them saying they want him to pitch in AAA.
You may feel otherwise but this is what they feel is best for Mejia at this time.
It’s really as simple as that.
If Chipper, Prado, Heyward, McCann and all the other hitters he’ll face agree to both, treat their AB’s the exact same way they approach their regular season AB’s AND their all in mid season form, then that would be indicative that his results are authentic. Otherwise why don’t we let the results he experiences in games that count, over an extended period of time, against guys during actual league competition dictate what level he should be at?
25 innings in ST is not enough of a reason to burn yet another option and more service time.
Almost every team calls on 10, 11 or even 12 different starting pitchers every season, what’s wrong with him having a half a season in AAA under his belt and then, if he’s doing well taking some of those starts?
I’d be more impressed if he dominates against major league hitters even if the are “rounding into form” in meaningless games, rather than dominating a bunch of minor leaguers.
Well he did that last year Vinny and pitched to a 4.62 ERA up here during the season. That didn’t do much good. For that matter Paul Wilson did the same in 1996 and pitched to a 5.38 ERA.
How about looking at what’s most likely to occur instead of the best case scenario all the time.
If he forces his way up here with a dominant first half in AAA there will be more than enough innings for a 21 year old to pitch in up here during the 2nd half.
Last year is last year.
Why can’t you grasp that concept? He may very well wind up in AAA, that may happen. He also may have grown, is stronger physically & mentally and is more prepared to make the majors this year than last.
Let’s just WAIT before making a decision. That’s the point here. It is ridiculous and downright unprofessional to make a public statement that Mejia is going to pitch AAA before one single ST pitch is thrown. Everything last year is in the past. It may be different this year, maybe it’s a LOT different….maybe not.
Let’s just see first.
The Mets don’t agree.
They think he is better off going to AAA to show them he is ready.
You may not agree but no matter how many times you keep repeating yourself in the end what matters is for now the Mets think Mejia is better off at AAA.
It’s a good thing so many of you have already decided Mejia’s fate before he throws one spring pitch.
You too?
Again the Mets have decided based on their discussions with their people that they feel that it will benefit Mejia better to start at AAA. We as you said did not decide anything. The Mets did.
The Mets based on Mejia’s past performance saw nothing to suggest he is ready for the bigs and want him to focus on just becoming a better starting pitcher and that begins with AAA.
If he is ready he will mow down AAA hitters and be up before you know it.
Why is having a kid that had all of 8 innings in AAA in his career and 5 innings in winterball this off season told to go to AAA 1st to further develop is a bad idea is beyond me.
There’s one question I haven’t heard anyone ask. What did he do over the winter to make himself a better pitcher? All that we saw last year is that he has a really fast fastball. His secondary pitches weren’t at all adequate to make him successful at the Major League level. He only pitched five innings of winter ball. Other than a light schedule of workouts (remember, he was supposed to rest this winter), he hasn’t thrown this winter. What has happened to make him any better than he was at the end of last season? The Mets let Jerry rush him up to the majors last year, Last year, we saw that he knew how to throw. This year, they want him to learn to pitch. Management has been telling us all along that this was going to be a rebuilding year. why take a chance on turning Jennry into Joba by rushing him yet another and possibliy wasting another year in his pitching education? No one has touched him with a magic wand and turned him into our ace, or even our #5 man. It’s a lot easier for him to work on his craft if you don’t throw him into the pressure of a NY baseball clubhouse.
You are asking all the right questions.
it’s more of a “what if” scenario (closer to a pipe dream) being used to bash collins and alderson.
I actually like Collins…….
My point is Mejia pitched in the majors last year and shouldn’t be told he has no chance of making the team before he throws one pitch. He might be the best 5SP option we have IF he improved…..but we don’t know if he did or not. He could still be the same pitcher as last year – nobody knows at this point. So we should see how he looks in ST before we make any decsisions.
I don’t know how that’s bashing Collins and Alderson…..It’s funny that a lot of what I’m saying now, is a lot like what I said last year…..but because I say it now I’m bashing them.
Yeah okay.
I don’t think your bashing Collins or Alderson. I just think you and I (and Bayonne) have a difference of opinion on this issue.
Last year he looked good in ST (to say the least) but turned out not to be ready even in the low leverage situations he was given. He didn’t look over matched or overwhelmed to me, just didn’t have all the tools he needed in his tool belt. Same with Parnell in 2009. But talent? Yeah I thought he looked real good. I’d prefer to spend a year bringing all that talent out of him. Refining it, adding to it. Giving him something more than he had last year, rather than risk repeating the whole process again this year. Like it or not, that’s a very probable situation. He ended the season shut down, he didn’t get to work on a lot last year.
Tell him he’s got to make 25 good starts in AAA and he’s in the Major League rotation come September.
If there’s an opening after 15 and he pitches great bring him in then.
Almost all the great young pitchers dominate AAA for a full season before they come up here at all. The only difference is they stayed.
If he looks good in ST how we will Alderson/Collins or anyone else know it’s any different then him looking good in ST last year?
Well Steve we’ll find out if he did help make himself a better pitcher. What he did? I don’t know, I wasn’t with him during the off season. That’s what ST competition is all about to find out things. Have you learned a lot in the last year? Are you different? Things can change.
If not, then he’ll go back to AAA. Let’s just see first, that’s all.
You mean like if Murphy can be the everyday starting 2b?
the mejia debate again?
It would be wonderful to see him bigger, stronger and with more pitches working in ST. fantastic.
but the mets decision is based on the fact that they don’t think he is ready, or will have proven enough, to be a regular SP.
most teams will not want a kid to jump from 80 to 160-180 IPs in one year. Especially when he was hurt toward the end of the year (shoulder issue).
we aren’t talking about a kid for the mop up job in the pen. Why start him in the rotation, and have to shut him down early?
let him build progressively in the minors. if he is that ready in ST, he will be back soon enough.
also, most guys that bypass the minors are older, coming out of college.
I have to agree with you.
Bayonne, this was unrepliable:
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Bayonne Mets Fan says:
February 20, 2011 at 8:36 pm
He could pitch 15 consecutive games in AAA come up and be a bust. Or he could have a good spring, go down and be a bust in AAA.
“One question. How will we know if his looking good this ST is any different than his looking good in last ST?”
Maybe he has more of a presence on the mound? As stated earlier maybe that presence is because he grew? Or he’s matured over the winter?
Maybe he has more poise during in-game pressure spots than last year? Maybe because it was his first time he may have been a little nervous? Although he probably wouldn’t say it. Maybe there’s 2 or 3 more MPH on his fb? Maybe that increase speed will help accent his changeup more than last year? Maybe he’s not as intimidated by big leaguers this time? And maybe he’s doing this all at the same time Gee, Capuano, Tanskesley, & Niese may be faltering?
Or maybe he’s exactly the same as last year, hasn’t grown, still has a baby face, no increased command or mound presence…and he goes back down. Maybe his coming north this time is under different circumstances altogether than last year.
If he’s feeling confident and showing tremendous poise we bring him North and ride the wave. Or you short circuit it and send him back down
The decision to bring him up this time may be different than the decision to bring him up last time.
Spring Training competition will help decide that.
___________________________________________________________________________________________BTW, I briefly considered ignoring it as imbecilic; however, out of respect for u as a fan & as a “MMO record” holder(I assume 7 maybes in one comment is some sort of record); however, unfortunately for u ALL 7 remarkably get canceled out by one simple yet important date in history; Oct 11, 1989! Mejia’s DOB making him ONLY 22!
Geography also negates your maybe concerns inasmuch as his being ticketed for Buffalo in ST DOES NOT transport him to Jupiter(neither the planet nor the Fl city); but to the other side of the Mets’ camp where ALL those maybes will be evaluated, only a short commute back for a cameo should TC or Sandy rethink their initial decision.
Bayonne, even if in answering ALL 7 of your maybes it was revealed this diminutive ‘child’(6’0″ 160#) had suddenly emerged from his 4 month cocoon as a hybrid Gooden/Seaver. Ecxactly what difference do u see him making to the comparison of pitching staffs atop the Division?
Bayonne, perhaps a little bio about Jenrry is required:
We know he was born in 1989 & signed his initial pro baseball contract @ age 18 in 2007. in 2008:
Was the second youngest player in the New York-Penn League…Was fourth in the New York-Penn League in opponents batting average (.209)…Ranked first in shutouts and second in complete games in the Gulf Coast (R) League
in 2009:
Split the season between St. Lucie (A) of the Florida State League and Binghamton (AA) of the Eastern League…Was the youngest pitcher in Double-A when he joined the B-Mets for his debut on June 3rd…Placed on Disabled List from July 3rd-August 12th, with a strain of the middle finger on his right hand…For the season he struck out 91 batters in 94.2 innings, an average of 8.65 batters per nine innings…Went 4-0 with two no-decisions over his last six starts with St. Lucie from April 27th-June 1st…In 36.0 innings, he posted a 1.75 ERA, and gave up 26 hits, seven runs, four earned, with eight walks while striking out 30…Went a season-best 8.0 innings, May 2nd vs. Sarasota…Struck out season-high eight batters in 4.0 innings vs. Brevard County on May
We ALL know about 2010; however with so little professional training you seem very willing to sacrifice this prospect’s potential on the slimmest of MAYBES, to which I demand you answer just one simple question keeping in mind you’ve exhausted your “maybe” alottement, your question to answer sans ‘maybe’ is simply this:
WHY?
Esp considering the in-depth training he’d get on thr MiLB side is most likely more in line with his lack of experience(taylored to “kids” as opposed to the MLB side’s being fashioned more for veteran players where much that a kid needs to learn is assumed to be already known)!
Bayonne, we know he can throw the ball effectively @ batters; but it is far more likely he’ll learn to pitch to those very same batters in the Minor leahue side of camp. ST is not High School it’s an advanced post graduate level program where special instructors like Koufax come in assuming you are already fluent in the basics of pitching, which a 22 yr old, wet behuind the ears from his first proball shower, Mejia is not.
Putting more stock into ST results than regular season results is really a reach especially when you can simply bring him up if he’s dominating AAA. You can’t lose. He’s pitching great you bring him up, he’s not you leave him there.
No loss of another option, year of team control. No sending him back down after a 2nd underwhelming go around in the Majors.
“He could pitch 15 games in AAA and come up and be a bust.” Then he wasn’t ready, you should be glad he started the season in AAA.
“He could have a good spring, go down and be a bust.” Once again, You should be glad he started the season in AAA he obviously wasn’t ready.
Maybe your right ’62. Maybe the Met Fan is too impatient to ever embark on a sensible long term strategy that could result in multiple World Championships in the same decade. After all if people are so in favor of bringing up a very talented potential ace starting pitcher based on “how he looks in ST”, AGAIN, instead of just letting him learn his craft and come up here ready to go 6 or 7 innings of 2 run ball two games out of three. I wonder if anyone ever realizes why we have only been to the post season 3 times in 20 years? I wonder if anyone ever thinks about any year beyond THIS YEAR?
t, IT’S CERTAINLY VERY UNFORTUNATE THOUGH CERTAINLY NOT NEW THAT A HUGE % OF THE IMPATIENT FAN POPULATION FAILS TO UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF THE WORD CAUTIONARY AS IN THE CAUTIONARY TALES OF JOBA CHAMBERLAIN,TIMOTHY LEARY, & ALL TOO MANY THAT HAVE PASSED INTO HISTORY NEEDLESSLY AS FORGOTTEN POTENTIALS.
T, it’s also amazing how many fans & socalled exprts single out the loss of GEN K & disregard the decimation of our farm’s brightest pitching proteges in acquiring Viola from MN a grand total of our 5 best young pitchers chosen from various levels, then losing Izzy,Pulse,Wilson to injury as both disasters combined to create the avarice hunger that’s threatening the logical acceptance of a PLANNED construction blueprint.
Who’s being impatient and why was my other post so crazy?
Let’s just how he performs in ST first before deciding whether he’s ready to come north or not.
Why is that so hard to understand? He may be ready & the coaches may feel “you know? He may be ready now” and bring him up.
If they feel he’s not ready then they’ll send him down, if they feel he’s improved from last year and is now ready to give the bigs another shot now..then they bring him up
Why is that so hard to grasp? Nobody is saying rush him.
Bay, though I’ve never personally participated in a ST, It’s only logical to believe there is a considerable difference between the MLB & MiLB training/coaching being conductedby the professional coaching staffs. One example I can quivkly think of is while FUNDAMENTALS may be stressed on the MLB side. They are most likely being taught on thr MiLB side. Think of it like school with teacher student ratios, while on the MLB side the participants are ALL equals among MLBers with the time & energies of a handful of coaches being spread pretty thin among 65 or so participants, this yr having the “new” team direction emphasized through the entire population while over on the “other” MiLB side there are most likely at least as many coaches(probably 3X as many A,AA,AAA considering we’ve 3 or 4 @ A level there’s more likely 5X the coaches on hand & while it’s nice to think they’re all getting equal treatment/attention it’s logical to believe the 25 or so “real” prospects are being individually ‘tutored’
ot attended to… conclusion Mejia needs to lear “HOW TO” more than “WHAT TO” the former class being held for the youngsters more than the vets getting tyhr latter instruction.
How do YOU know how much Mejia needs a “How To” lesson? How do you know that before ST even starts?
He was already on team last year so that’s a start. What if he’s a LOT better this year? What if he’s the same? We dont’ that yet do we? You don’t and I don’t.
Let them compete before deciding. You and I don’t know what he’s been working on this winter and who he’s been working with. Do you?
North, NO CHANCE? says who? Everyone presently on the 40 has a chance by definition of tyhe 40 alone the key is not being one of the 15 left behind. NO?
Igarashi has NO chance having been victimized by the concious decision to remove him off the 40. In my opinion, EVERYONE in PSL on either side of the camp has a chance some chances certainly are better than others; but all are better then ‘NO CHANCE’. Over on the MiLB side aren’t there NYM coaches evaluating these prospects initially considered Not ready? Wasn’t TC well versed in the overall population of our entire FARM? Do u really believe a talent such as Mejia will be in a “NO CHANCE” crack?
Can we ALL just take a deep breath as I assume at one time or another Doc inhabited the “kids” table side of camp & I do recall the battle between Davey’s lust for Doc & Frank’s conservative “NO WAY” position ultimately sliding to Davey’s side of the battlefield, despite Doc’s 19.5 age though he was of bigger statrure 6’3″, 180+#. Mejia=6’0″,160#(K-ROD,J.Franco sized)
If your talking to me 62 I think you have me confused with someone else. I never said “NO CHANCE”.
North, I beg to differ; u may want to consult with your physician regarding they memory issue…
___________________________________________________________________________________Author: Mr North Jersey
Comment:
“I’m saying is he should be given a chance to win it, and he shouldn’t be told he has no chance to make the team before he even throws ONE pitch.”
And again as of this moment the Mets simply disagree.
___________________________________________________________________________________North if that’s from some imposter, u shoyuld know someone, for whatever reason is stealing your MMO identity…lol…’62
lol if you notice what your claiming as my words is in fact Vinny B’s words which if you notice i quoted cause my reply was for those exacr words that he said.
if you simply read the thread fully rather than trying to be funny with your memory joke you would have seen you was misreading my comment.
Even Doc put in 2 full years in the minors before making the ML roster. Meija should NEVER have been brought up last year – and wouldn’t have been if Jerry and Omar weren’t trying to hold onto their jobs. All you have to do to see an example of a player that was rushed up to the bigs and ruined is go to the Bronx. I said it before in this thread and I’ll keep on saying it. Do you want to see this kid end up like Joba???
So because the yankees rushed Joba, that’s why he isn’t doing good now? How do you know that was the reason why he was a bust? Maybe he would have been a bust anyway?
Santana was 21 when he came to the majors, he had never pitched above A ball and pitched in LESS minor league games than Mejia. Zack greinke was 20, and also pitched in LESS minor league games than Mejia. Are they runied?
So, two pitchers around the same age as Mejia, and had less minor league experience both pitched in in the majors, and went on to be CY young award winners.
I don’t want him to be like Joba, i want him to be like Santan or Greinke lol.
Vinnie, Santana? really? that’s your example u really believe Mejia fits behind? BTW, as most here know, as I quantify the biggest Minaya disappointments since 2005. Santana & his miserable record as an ACE against our most heated rivals(PHL/ATL/NYY) tops that very list of BUSTS! Over his NYM career there has NOT been any one player who epitomized the WARRIOR SWAGGER more than Santana; however against our deadliest opponents PHL,ATL,NYY.(I believe it’s known as taliking the talk, not walking the walk) few have failed as miserably as he compiled a 10-14 record, specializing on “bending over” for ATL on an annual basis as proven by these stats vs the Bravos:
2008 0-3
2009 1-2
2010 2-2
That compiles to an overall record of 3-7 against one of the Division’s Oldest rosters & our longest tenured rival!
I don’t know; but I may be wrong when I define a WARRIOR AS ONE WHO GEARS UP FOR THE BIGGEST RIVALRIES!
The smoke & mirror that has been the “legend og the Johan” is like that erstwhile Emperor STARK NAKED IN THE LIGHT OF DATA: Consider this from our @20M/yr #1:
YEAR PHL ATL NYY
2008 3-2 0-3 1-1
2009 2-2 1-2 0-1
2010 1-1 2-2 0-1
As a fair comparative, we ALL have been painfully aware of the inconsistancies provided by Johan’s most frequent wingman(#2) Pelfrey who despite those inconsistancies & dealing with the same roster supporting him managed this 3 year record against those very same clubs:
YEAR PHL ATL NYY
2008 2-2 2-3 1-1
2009 4-1 1-2 0-1
2010 2-2 2-3 0-1
aS A FAN WHHO WAS 13 WHRN THAT FIRST NYM PITCH WAS THROWN IN 04/62 I’VE THRILLED AT THE MASTERY OD SEAVER, THE DOMINANCE OF GOODEN THE GUILE OF KOOSMAN & THE BRAVERY OF MATLOCK and as such, quantify Santana’s NY Met career a determined BUST! and I earmark him as expendable on this particular roster under this particular ownership. The $20M portion of the $150M payroll could easily supply as good if not better results against those grounding our noses in the slime. Hw can one explain his relative mediocrity as a so called dominant LHP against the predominantly LH Phillies lineup?
Once more, I realize mu masilbox will be deluged with those I’ve shocked & offended; to ALL of u I say bring it on. Bring your stats, leave your poor run support excuses in your pocket since significant run support is a requirement for journeymen likr Trachsel,Maine,Perez to succeed, not ACES!
i SUGGEST U COME READY TO DEFEND THE INNUMERABLE LEADS HE’S SURRENDERED! In my book, True ACES like Halladay & Sabbathia & in their Met heyday Seaver & “THE” Doc.
protect leads, no matter how small, like mothers protect their babies.
BTW ny absolutely no means do I wish to portend the talent levels of Santana & Pelfrey are in any way comparable; yet if we ALL agree Santana’s is the greater talent than how can anyone explain Pelfrey’s superior record against our most heated/hated rivals? Thus is the true definition in baseball terms of my initial Disappointment label for Johan’d forehead!
Deal with that!
My point with Santana isn’t about how good of a pitcher he is. What my point is that, he pitched in the majors while playing in less minor league games than mejia, and it didn’t ruin his career.
So everyone shouldn’t be so worried about this “ruining his Mejia’s career” because pitchers have done this before and turned out fine.
Santana pitched 1997 1998 and 1999 in the minors and according to the numbers didn’t pitch very well. He was then selected rule 5 by TB and traded immediately to Minn. He then spent 2000 AND 2001 with Minn starting 9 games in 45 appearances over two years where again it doesn’t look like he pitched very well. It looks to me that the first success Santana had was back in the minors in 2002 when he was 23. He then came up and tasted his first success in the Majors at 23 as well.
I get that as a rule 5 he had to spend all of 2000 here, but after not pitching that well why 2001 as well?
Despite pitching well in 2002 he remained a spot starter/LOOGY in 2003 and didn’t become a full time starter until 2004 at 25 years of age.
Reading between the numbers it looks like Kelly and his pitching coach Dick Such were tutoring Santana and JC Romero while alternating their starts and bull pen work load. When Kelly and Such retired Santana went back down. Considering the way Kelly rode Brad Radke it’s lucky for Santana that he was spot started or he could have been finished at the same age as Radke was.
It would be interesting to hear what Santana had to say about his unusual development path but since Mejia is not a rule 5, doesn’t have to stay up here and would hopefully become a quality full time starting pitcher before the age at which Santana did (25) I don’t see why a full year of pitching in AAA wouldn’t work out the best for him and ultimately us after all Johan spent two ineffective years up here before finding his first success back in the minors and carrying it back here in the 2nd half of his 6th pro season.
If Mejia were to mirror that development that would put his eta as a good pitcher to the 2nd half of next year. I’d prefer to see him have a very good season in AAA, 4 good starts in September and compete next year for a starting spot knowing how to pitch.
Vinnie, u are absolutely correct in sayin Pitchers certainly hasve debuted very young in ther majors & gone on to significant success despite the odds against them.
Those concerned that Jenrry is too young are also as correct since as many if not more have crashed & burned as have soared off in glory!
Vinnie, in a year when even our own experts don’t envision contention; but competitivness, the sinmple question is
WHY TAKE THE RISK? What do u stand to gain? lose? & is it worth it?
Personally, though I consider your srguement viable,I still disagree with your conclusion.
Santana still put in 2 years in the minors, plus a year before that in the Dominican Republic training. It still took him until his third ML season to break into the rotation, or even get his ERA below 4.50.
It’s not going to matter what he does in ST this year. The Mets only have 2 options left. They’re not going to bring him up until they’re pretty sure he’s ready, and that means watching him for a lot longer and against game-ready competition, not players whose primary goal is to work back into shape mentally and physically. Jerry and Omar blew his chance to come up this year when they traded his development for a chance to keep their jobs. Now, he’s basically a year behind. Plus, they can’t afford to roll the dice with him any more and take a chance on blowing another option year. ST isn’t about winning primarily, it’s about getting your baseball reflexes back after the off-season and prepping for a long season. Jennry’s going to school this year, working on his secondary pitches and learning more about the art of pitching. His secondary pitches needed work at the end of last season, and they still do. This is a good year for him to learn, because we’re basically in rebuilding mode.
We are in rebuilding mode? How is a team with Wright, Reyes, Beltran, and Bay in rebuilding mode?
I believe this team can contend this year, so we should bring up the the guys who give us the best chance of winning – we can’t worry about contracts and stuff now.
How do you know Mejia is a year behind? Did you sit down and talk with him? I heard someone say a little while ago on here that Mejia said he learned a lot the major league experience last season…..maybe he’s a year ahead? The whole experience last year could have been a GOOD thing for him.
Santana pitched in 54 minor league games before he was called up, Mejia has pitched in 56 as of right now, and that’s not counting the major league games he pitched in last year. My point is with Santana is that he pitched in the majors with less experience than Mejia has, and it didn’t ruin him……like you said bringing up Joba ruined him – Santana went on to win 2 CY Young awards.
I’m not saying Mejia SHOULD win the job, what I’m saying is he should be given a CHANCE to win it.
Vinnie staying within the Construction analogy, we’re not so much rebuilding as we are massivly remodeling, primarily without the chic imported wood flooring(lol) even upgrading the terra cotta tile quality replacing MAINE/PEREZ(hopefully) with YOUNG/CAPUANO A +++ improvment.
Perhaps recycling using the same bricks with improved mortar i.e. scraping out the old mortar of Maine,Tatis,Cora,Dessens & the bucket od overused spare replacenment parts known as GMJ,Shefield,Jacobs.
Mixing up a fresh batch of mortar out of Young,Capuano,Hairston & a fresh bucket comprised of Isruinghausen,Bonser,Igarashi,Stoner,Tankersley,Hasrris.
No, this is different than the past 3 yrs when we automatically expanded the orig construction withy additions of Beltran,Delgado,Pedro,Wagner,Santana,K-Rod,Bay instead were surrounding them differently
Rebuidling mode??? This has to be the best lineup in baseball history that is in “rebuilding mode”
It may look like rebuilding mode because of his lousy off season though. Some better starting pitching would put this team right into contention for WC.
A lineup of Reyes, Pagan, Wright, Bay, Beltran, Davis, & Thole is rebuilding mode?
Better pitching is all it needs.
It looks like Saber Sandy is more in “destroying mode”
You have a point. Beltran and most likely Reyes and KRod are gone next year. All the more reason to protect the assets we have – no more getting a high-priced free agent when we need one now. We’ll know when Meija is ready, but he needs a longer look than ST.
Very clear to most. Very cloudy to those who only consider THIS YEAR, every year, and when you consider how well that has worked…….
Jenrry Mejia Tabbed To Start Spring Opener | Mets Merized Online…
[...]so? what does it mattter how many innings he pitched? If he shows he’s ready, and shows he’s the best guy for the job, should come up. Mejia has pitched in more minor league games than Zack Greinkie before he was called up – he turned out … ST…