PORT ST. LUCIE — The Mets may have their own little Joba situation brewing.
Keep your eyes on young right-handed pitcher Jenrry Mejia. He threw a bullpen session yesterday and his stuff was, in manager Jerry Manuel’s words, “electric.”
He’s only 20 years old and is one of the Mets’ bright arms of the future. In their world he is a future starter in the majors, a possible ace.
Manuel threw out a fascinating thought during his press conference at the end of the day. One of the topics was the eighth-inning hole in the Mets’ bullpen. Manuel said the eighth inning is wide open. Then he tossed out the idea of even taking a look at Mejia for such a role.
“Don’t let me get started on him,” Manuel said with animation. “It’s tough not to get excited when you see that type of talent.”
Manuel is so excited that he said he’s going to take a close look at Mejia when the games begin, and if possible arrange it so Mejia faces off against the game’s greatest hitter, Albert Pujols. If Mejia has success in that type of showdown, Manuel said, he may have “finally found my eighth-inning guy.”
Why not? The Mets need to start thinking outside that box they’ve painted themselves into. The plans are for Mejia to start at Double-A Binghamton and work his way up the ladder, but as GM Omar Minaya noted of the confident Mejia, “He thinks he can pitch in the majors now.”
Minaya loves that type of confidence, and points out Mejia has four pitches — fastball, curve, changeup and slider — but he has to learn to command his pitches. He lit up the Florida State League last year, and some scouts said that success reminded them of Rick Porcello’s FSL performance in 2008. Porcello’s done OK with Detroit.
Mejia was 160 pounds when he signed, but is now up to 197 and throws in the 97 mph range.
Mejia says he is in camp to win a job. He is a starter, but said he would accept any role.
“I know I can pitch in the major leagues now,” Mejia said.
It’s likely some other Mets reliever will come up with the eighth-inning job, but anything can happen during spring training.
Minaya said the plans are for Mejia to be a starter. The Yankees had the same plans for Joba Chamberlain a few years ago. Suddenly the eighth-inning hole developed for the Yankees and the next thing you knew, Joba was pumping his fist all over the American League.
Roles happen. If Mejia has a good camp, starts off the season in the minors as a starter and then the eighth-inning pothole is not patched up by the Mets, maybe Mejia slides into that role during the season. Johan Santana started in the bullpen. K-Rod started as a set-up man.
Breaking starters into the majors in the bullpen used to be a way of life before the game became overproduced. Putting a deserving youngster in the bullpen is a good way of keeping innings under control, too. You never want your young arms overextending themselves.
Go slow and throw fast is an excellent recipe for success. As Tigers manager Jim Leyland once told me, “When I call down to the bullpen, I don’t ask how old they are.”
Mejia was 4-1 in the Florida State League last year with a 1.97 ERA over nine starts. His next 10 starts were at Binghamton, and the numbers were not pretty (0-5 with a 4.47 ERA). He was the youngest pitcher in Double-A when he joined the team.
He threw seven shutout innings his first Double-A start, then it went downhill. He strained the middle finger on his pitching hand on July 3, shortly before he was to pitch in the Futures Game.
For the season, he struck out 91 batters in 94 2/3 innings and walked 39.
Mejia then struggled in the Arizona Fall League (1-3, 12.56 ERA). Minaya said he was trying to do too much at that point. Manuel said it is all about command. If that command comes, anything is possible.
“He’s going to create a lot of excitement,” Minaya promised.
He’s already created excitement, and pitchers and catchers are just getting started. Just wait until the young Mejia faces off against Mr. Pujols.