Adalberto Mejia, LHP. DOB: 6/20/1993. 6'3", 195 lbs. B-L, T-L.
Low A: 10-7, 3.97, 106.2, 21 IP, 79 K, GO/AO= 0.91.
Adalberto Mejia was signed out of he Dominican Republic in the spring of 2011 for $350 K, along with RHP Simon Mercedes who at the time looked like the stronger of the two prospects. Mercedes ran into identity questions and his contract was eventually voided. The scouting report on Mejia at the time had his velocity sitting 87-90, touching 92 MPH.
He immediately went out an dominated the DSL with crazy good control for a kid that young: 5-2, 1.42, 76 IP, 8 BB, 71 K. DSL kids usually spend a year in Arizona after coming to the US, but the Giants jumped him all the way to low A Augusta. He struggled in his first month running up an ERA of 12.46 in April. For awhile, it looked like he might need to be sent back to Arizona, but the Giants put him in the bullpen and let him work things through. His outings gradually became more and more successful. His ERA in May came down to 4.67 in 9 appearances, all out of the bullpen. He was put back in the rotation in June and put up a 1.99 ERA. He got shelled in one start on July 14 in which he allowed 8 ER in 4.1 IP. Take out that one awful start and his ERA in his other 9 starts to the end of the season was 2.08. All games included, his line over his last 10 starts was 5-3, 3.29, 63 IP, 5 BB, 44 K's.
Marc Hulett, writing in Fangraphs, noted that his contacts put Mejia's velocity at 88-92 some projectability. I'm always a bit skeptical of projectability, but he's at an age where it is not uncommon to see a spike in velocity. He also has a curveball and changeup with the curve rated as a plus pitch.
Mejia is another young pitching prospect who I expect to see in the rotation in San Jose. He'll be a must-see on my personal scouting trip list.
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swisher going to indians
ReplyDeletewonder if that means they will release t-daddy
giants need depth in the of
bacci
Giants sign Cole Gillespie, not to be confused with Conor Gillaspie, out of the D'Backs organization. From his minor league numbers, looks like he could be in the mix for 5'th OF and a RH platoon partner for Gregor Blanco.
DeleteMejia is 5+ months younger than Crick and Blackburn.
ReplyDeleteThey had him for at least 2 years now, age-seasos 17 and 18 I guess. Did he show any increase in velocity during that time? How much? If not, is it possible at that young age, people can show only little or no prior increases and then go on a spurt?
It is fairly common to see a spike in velocity in college pitchers between their freshmen and sophomore seasons or between their sophomore and junior seasons which would correlate to between the age 19 and 20 seasons or between the age 20 and 21 seasons. Having said that, I don't think it's something you can count on nor do I think it is necessary for future success.
DeleteI agree, control and command like that is a gift, and especially impressive against much older competition, 2-4 years older (and more experienced) than he was. Velocity would be a plus but I also don't think that it is necessary for future success.
DeleteBut what success are we talking about DrB? Mid-rotation?
I'm not huge on numbering rotation slots. I mean, once you get past the first 5 games of the season, it doesn't matter anyway. People say, well, the #5 gets skipped a lot. Well, the Giants don't generally do that. Instead, they use off days to give the starters an extra day off. Having gotten that off my chest, yeah, if you want to call him a mid-rotation kind of guy, that's fair. You probably don't find that many true aces with low 90's fastballs.
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