19
2012
Oh Jenrry! Mets Must Take Things Slow With Former Top Prospect
An article by 
Mets RHP Jenrry Mejia made his first AA start on Saturday afternoon as he works to come back from last year’s Tommy John Surgery (TJS). Mejia didn’t figure into the decision in the game, but he went the first three innings giving up one run on six hits, with three strikeouts. Darin Gorski made his first relief appearance of the year in relief of Mejia, who was on the hook for a loss until the eighth inning when the B-Mets bats finally woke up. In the inning they sent 10 men to the plate and threw a five-spot on six hits up on the board, to erase a 1-0 deficit.
If you were looking for positive signs for Mejia today, there were only two. One was his velocity. He was living low-to-mid 90′s, topping out at 95 mph. The other positive was that he only gave up the one run, which was a miracle.
He gave up two hits in each of his three innings of work. He gave up lead-off singles in each inning. The SeaDogs had four men LOB, and they were 1 for 8 with RISP. So it could have been much worse for Mejia and the B-Mets.
Although Mejia had a decent pitch ratio: 48 pitches, 33 for strikes, the real story is that he struggled with his command. He was one-oh, two-oh, two-one, on nearly every hitter, always working from behind in the count. To compound the situation there were always men on base so he was working from the stretch the entire time. And he couldn’t command his breaking ball and threw hardly any for strikes. That’s why he got hammered for the six hits, he was constantly forced to come in there with a cookie.
What I took away from this snapshot of Mejia, is that he still has a ways to go before he’s ready for the bright lights of NYC. He doesn’t look sharp, or like he is ready to contribute yet at Citifield either in the rotation or in the bullpen. To stick him in the big league pen soon, just because the guys we have there now suck, would be an unwise thing to do. It would be like repeating the mistakes already made.
No, Mejia needs more seasoning, and he will benefit immensely by being allowed to start at AA or AAA for the next three months or so. Just like the smart move for Harvey and Familia is to not even consider them for promotion before September, Mejia should be in the same “hands-off” category.
Remember: “Good Things Come To Those Who Wait“
About the Author: Peter Shapiro
The first time I went to Shea was not for a Mets game, it was for the Beatles concert there in August of '66. My first Met game was '67, a guy named Salty Parker was the interim-manager then. My first pennant race was 1969. As a 12 year-old that summer and fall, I managed to get to the park for 3 games. The first was the beginning of the Miracle which actually started on Tuesday July 8, 1969 with a day game against the Cubs. I was there a lot in '73. I saw games 3 & 5 of the 1973 NL Playoffs against the "Big Red Machine", from the upper deck behind home plate. It was from there that I witnessed the fight between Bud Harrelson and Pete Rose, and the mayhem that ensued. And that sweet victory in game 5! I saw a couple of WS games at Shea that year against that legendary Oakland A's club. I was there in 1985 for every single game Dr. K pitched including his two 16 strikeout performances, and the day he one-hit the Cubs on an infield single and the Mets won 1-0. I loved being a Met fan in those days. Hopefully we are once again preparing to emerge from the darkness.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 22 | 18 | .550 | - |
| Nationals | 22 | 19 | .537 | 0.5 |
| Phillies | 19 | 22 | .463 | 3.5 |
| Mets | 15 | 23 | .395 | 6.0 |
| Marlins | 11 | 30 | .268 | 11.5 |
Last updated: 05/17/2013
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For some odd reason, and this goes back to the Minaya regime, Mejia has been woefully mishandled in terms of his development. His occasional flashes of brilliance are great to see, but until he can consistently pitch at a major league ready level, any talk of promoting him should be shelved until September as you’ve been saying Pete. I think it was irresponsible and unfair to Mejia to have Mets executives discussing him as a potential bullpen option for the Mets in the near future. I also wish that Terry Collins would stop telegraphing his every thought to the media with regards to statements regarding playing time for prospects and returning injured players. They should put a gag order on him.
How about just a gag?
you are right though, he needs to learn the art of cliched double speak. say nothing and obfuscate.
Stick — Some of the MMO posters would go nuts if Terry Collins practiced cliched double speak. Look at what Sandy Alderson goes through when the ‘truth at any cost’ crowd finds he used a double entendre, such as in the Jose Reyes contract negotiations. If Terry were to obfuscate, that’s another story.
Des I think you are being unfair there…
No one would care if he said nothing, few would care if Sandy said nothing…
It’s the say one thing do another and saying things that should never be said that is where they get bitched at.
Metsie — The option for Sandy or Terry to say nothing is non-existent in my view. I assume you mean for them to say nothing about certain issues but to be communicative about day to day events. (They need at least minimal communications to run the club, generate press releases that have their imprimatur, etc.) Writers and fans would be all over them on the unspoken about, secret issues. It just doesn’t meet the reality test in my view. They would be accused of being deceptive. Also, the Wilpon’s would never tolerate such behavior. After all, they have a business to run and no other business that I know of has such a business model, though it is practiced informally. While I frequently agree with you on most issues, I don’t on this one or on the Jose Reyes box of chocolates. We can debate the latter until the cows come home, but I think Sandy was spot on with his double entendre. Anyway, thanks for letting me know your thoughts and giving me an opportunity to offer mine.
I’ll cite examples….
Terry vs Tejada – The guy lives a 6+ hour drive away from the Embassy went there and it was closed. Three days of stories that no one needed and served no useful purpose.
Terry and CF – No reason on the planet to say Torres is the starting CF 4 days before he comes off the DL!
Sandy on Wright and Reyes – Whenever asked Sandy would go on and on about how you can’t keep more than two big contracts on a payroll in a city that already has a team with about 8 Big contracts called the Yankees who win every year. Better would have been we have no plans to trade Wright at this time or We want Reyes back PERIOD END OF SENTENCE! Neither would be a lie and serve to answer the question much better than answers given which do nothing but invite followup questions on the same subject that leads to stories lasting for weeks instead of a day!
Sandy on Finances – Say finances are tight, Say we have to be careful with what we spend, Don’t tell the world we plan on having a 95 Mil payroll when we are done, Only person who benefitted from that was the competition. Maybe without that knowledge the Marlins offer Crawford money to reyes instead and that leaves them less to spend elsewhere when it is a guy we want. Maybe Capuano resigns or the Dodgers have to pay more. Maybe if the entire world did not know Sandy was rebuilding some better FAs are willing to listen to offers.
It’s one thing to answer questions truthfully but it is an entirely different thing to turn into Jim Carey in Yes Man!
They can be as honest as they want just leave as little information as possible that can be used against us unsaid!
People can complain all they want if they do that!
And there is always some buttwipe who sits in a pentagon briefing and asks the commanding general where do you plan to attack next!
Too bad for them there are certain things no one needs to know and never need to be said!
Any general who answers that question should be shot for treason!
Nothing so drastic in this case mind you…
I agree almost completely Pete. Certainly about Mejia. Just keep him on a regiment in the minors, and forget about him for this year.
Now, Harvey I can support coming up early, but if (and only if) he “graduates” from the standpoint of mastering everything they want him to, and having a string of strong starts proving it. If that happens at say the ASB, and they have a need in the rotation, let him come up.
The only thing Harvey needs to master is not having enough ML service time so he doesn’t become a super two. As soon as that hurdle is cleared we will hear all the BS about how he suddenly became ready.