Jenrry Mejia is back on the mound.
The Mets’ top prospect, who had been put on the shelf since late June because of stiffness in his right shoulder, was back pitching Wednesday for the first time since then, starting for the organization’s Gulf Coast League affiliate. The 5-foot-11, 160-pound right-hander went three innings, allowing one run on four hits, striking out three and walking one.
Mejia, who is the subject of trade rumors, only made two appearances for Double-A Binghamton after the Mets removed him from their bullpen to stretch him back out into being a starting pitcher, which he had exclusively been for the past two seasons.
* Zach Lutz has been injured time and time again during his four-year professional career, including missing the past two months with a fracture in his left foot. But upon returning to Double-A Binghamton’s lineup earlier this week, the third baseman immediately began producing.
In his first two games, the 6-foot-1, 220-pound Lutz, who was the Division III player of the year at Alvernia College, went a combined 6-for-8 with two homers, five RBIs and six runs scored. Since the Mets selected him in the third round of the 2007 draft, Lutz has played in just 176 games because of a variety of injuries, including injuring the same foot in his professional debut with the Brooklyn Cyclones in 2007.
* It seems that the Eddie Kunz experiment has produced, at best, mixed results.
The Mets’ top pick in the 2007 draft made nine appearances as a starter for Double-A Binghamton before going back to the bullpen. But after finishing his stint as a starter with some success by going 2-1 with a 3.26 ERA in May, he’s struggled in his switch back to the bullpen.
In 20 appearances as a reliever, the 6-foot-6 right-hander is 1-2 with a 4.93 ERA, and has nearly twice as many walks (27) as strikeouts (14) in 381⁄3 innings. Kunz has seen better results in the last month — a 4.09 ERA, along with nine strikeouts and nine walks, in 172⁄3 innings. That includes three straight scoreless outings, when he’s allowed two hits in his last 62⁄3 innings pitched.
* Sean Ratliff had a solid start to the season with High-A St. Lucie, hitting .275 with five homers and 30 RBIs in 57 games. But since getting a promotion to Binghamton, Ratliff has been on a tear.
The Mets’ fourth-round pick in 2008 out of Stanford, is hitting .337 with 10 homers and
32 RBIs in 40 games in Double-A. Ratliff, a 6-foot-3 outfielder who entered the season as the Mets’ 22nd overall prospect, according to Baseball America, had eight homers over the course of his first two professional seasons.
Down on the farm
Brandon Laird, Yankees
3B, Double-A Trenton
Laird has been on fire over the past 10 games. The third baseman is hitting .412 with four homers and seven RBIs during that time and leads the Eastern League in home runs (23) and RBIs (89).
Jefry Marte, Mets
3B, Low-A Savannah
Marte, who turned 19 last month, seems to have turned the corner. After struggling over much of the first half of the season, he is hitting .354 with three home runs and 16 RBIs in July.
Manny Banuelos, Yankees
LHP, High-A Tampa
After missing the entire first half of the season, Banuelos is 0-2 with a 2.39 ERA in six starts. He has allowed 24 hits in 26 1/3 innings, striking out 36 and walking nine.
tbontemps@nypost.com