26
2013
Mejia Makes First Start, Tejada Out, Byrd’s The Word
An article by 
Jenrry Mejia gets the ball this afternoon against Miami. As of now, Mejia will be used as a starter, but there are those in the organization who believe he’s better suited for the bullpen.
Mejia prefers to start and has performed better in that role. Maybe it is because he has time to prepare for his assignment, maybe because he has more time to warm up, maybe it is an ego thing. Whatever it is, his 2.75 ERA as a starter compared to 5.48 ERA in relief, can’t be disputed.Why can’t they make a decision with this guy?
The Mets screwed up with Mejia in 2010, when managing for his job, Jerry Manuel rushed an unproven Mejia to the Opening Day roster as a reliever because they didn’t have a quality bullpen. Manuel was clearly thinking in the short term rather than what was in the best interest of Mejia, and the Mets, in the long term.
Closer, set-up reliever, situational pitcher; the Mets bounced him around. Eventually they optioned him out and he started in the minors. Mejia was not prepared for the up-and-down work in the bullpen, and then stretching him out in midseason, he injured his arm and underwent surgery. He did not pitch with the Mets in 2011.
Once a highly touted prospect, and the subject of trade calls by other teams, Mejia’s value plummeted. The reasons were three-fold: 1) his performance; 2) the arm injury; and 3) if the Mets had no confidence in him, then why would another team?
Mejia was a prime example of rushing a pitcher, and looking at him should give the Mets pause if they even think about putting Zack Wheeler on the Opening Day roster. Reportedly, it will be Mejia or Jeremy Hefner, who will open the season in the major leagues if Johan Santana goes on the disabled list. Currently, the Mets are considering the foolish decision of trying to squeeze in a full spring training in a little over two weeks to prepare Santana for Opening Day.
That will be a decision that will boomerang on them in a bad way. Mejia is not the first pitcher the Mets rushed. They did the same with No. 1 pick Mike Pelfrey, who clearly wasn’t ready in terms of his demeanor, poise and control of his secondary pitches. They pushed Pelfrey because they were thin in the rotation. He struggled, was eventually injured and now is with Minnesota.
BYRD IS THE WORD: Marlon Byrd and Collin Cowgill are currently the frontrunners for the two right-handed hitting outfield spots, but don’t count out Zach Lutz and Jamie Hoffmann could change that with solid spring showings.
DOUBLE DEKKER: Adam Rubin with a nice quip from one American League scout who told him Matt den Dekker is a “Gold Glove-caliber” center fielder. But the same scout wondered if den Dekker would have enough plate discipline and make enough contact to be an everyday major leaguer.
METS NOTEBOOK: Scott Atchison, Jeurys Familia, Cory Mazzoni, Hansel Robles and Carlos Torres are also scheduled to pitch. … Ruben Tejada did not play last night because of a strain in his right quadriceps and will not play today against the Marlins. Tejada sustained the same injury last season and missed six weeks. … Lucas Duda will work in the batting cage today to solve his mechanical flaws that lead to six strikeouts in seven at-bats.
Here is your Mets Lineup for this afternoon against the Miami Marlins at 1:10 PM:
- Jordany Valdespin, 2B
- Kirk Nieuwenhuis, CF
- Justin Turner, DH
- Mike Baxter, RF
- Zach Lutz, 1B
- Brian Bixler, 3B
- Landon Powell, C
- Juan Lagares, LF
- Omar Quintanilla, SS
About the Author: John Delcos
I am an active member of the BBWAA and have covered Major League Baseball in several capacities for over 20 years, including ten in New York working the Mets' and Yankees' beat. I covered the Baltimore Orioles for eight years and the Cleveland Indians before that. I currently serve as an editor and senior staff writer for Mets Merized Online. Follow me on Twitter @jdelcos.
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Recent Comments
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Here is the MLB Gameday link for anyone that wants to follow today’s game.
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2013_02_26_nynmlb_miamlb_1&mode=gameday
If Lutz can play serviceable of which it’s looking like he can that would be a score. Capt Kirk it seemed like did better at each level the second go round hopefully it’s the same now. I’m starting to warm up to Cowgill also like what he brings to the table. He seems like a much better choice than Byrd in my opinion. Byrd is a bum and if he was cheating last year and hit 200 what are we in store for? Hoffman could be a decent bat of the bench. But if we end up with Flores and Lutz bats in the line up I’d be stoked.
Flores is in Vegas. They are not going to have him rot for half a season on the bench. Plus he needs to play everyday to work on his defense at 2B.
Unless of course he can wrestle the 2B job from Murphy which isnt likely other than injury.
Five runs given up in one innin to the Marlins!. Is that a triple digit ERA?…..bullpen looking pretty good for him
FLmet, no… His ERA is 45.00
More like Vegas.
Wow. Mejia sure got lit up. We should’ve traded him when his value was higher. Lets hope Familia isnt as bad
It’s ST… Had wheeler got lit up like that i wouldn’t have cared either. Pitchers are throwing fastballs to loosen up the arms, more likely than not you see pitchers struggling and hitters having success. Gio Gonzales gave up a BOMB to tejada, what are the likelyhood of that during the regular seasons? Calm down
Andrew Brown?? Hearing nada about him, on paper i had hopes for him to contribute..
Mazzoni looks like he is putting together a 2nd nice outing with 3 shutout innings.
Cant wait to see Mazz in the big leagues. If they would turn him into a reliever, he’ll be called up not long after Leathersich.
I missed his 1st game but I just saw highlights of his performance and at least on 2 occasions he looks like he left some sliders up that I would think in the regular season they would be tattooed somewhere. What was your impressions of him in his 1st game of the Spring?
You guys remember Tim Leary? No. 2 pick in the whole draft in ’79. Rushed him a bit in ’81. Pitched 2 innings and hurt his arm. Never really the same.
Robles taken deep twice. Solo shots.
If Johan isnt able to go, I hope they give the ball to Hefner for a start or two. Mejia needs to be in Vegas learning how to pitch. I think ultimately his only chance is as a reliever but time will tell.
Lutz has the look of a masher.
LoL Marlins pitcher Chris Hatcher who just pitched this last inning and was charged with 3 runs is rockin a serious stache in his profile pic.
http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=501822#sectionType=career&gameType=%27S%27
Marlon Byrd could start the season as a starting outfielder.
Are all the so called roid haters going to go berserk if Byrd actually makes the Team??? Nope, they’ll make BS excuses
Like the ones making excuses for Fernando “PED” Martinez?
or the ones that made excuses for Ronnie Paulino?
LMAO