Reese Kaplan -- A Forgotten But Talented Reliever

Mea culpa!  My most recent analysis of the potential closers for 2019 did not include former fireman Jenrry Mejia.  He’s been gone for so long it’s perhaps understandable that he’s not front of mind in consideration of the roster options.  However, it did slip my mind completely, so let’s look at Mejia and his prospects to be the number one arm in the bullpen.

At age 11 Mejia began shining shoes to make some money and by age 15 he was earning a living for the equivalent of about $8 per day in the town of Azua in the Dominican Republic.  He was not all that interested in baseball until news of Pedro Martinez’ contract reached his homeland and young men began for the first time considering the prospect of looking at sport as a way out of a lifetime of poverty.

As a very young pitcher he threw mostly gas, hitting the upper 90s.  Jerry Manuel lobbied for and got him onto the major league roster where he was ill prepared for that step up in competition.  After Tommy John surgery he slowly regained the velocity, mixing in now five pitches -- fastball, slider, curve, sinker and changeup. 

Unfortunately, that is about all we know about Jenrry Mejia.  For sure he had the 2.30 ERA in 2013 and a an over 6:1 K to BB ratio.  That made us think that his talent would allow him to carry the load.  Unfortunately we didn’t know at the time that he was perhaps achieving that great success via Performance Enhancing Drugs. 

For those of you with short memories (like me), Jenrry Mejia was a high velocity pitcher who was jerked back and forth between the rotation and the bullpen, first by Jerry Manuel and then by Terry Collins.  Kyle Farnsworth was not getting it done and when TC finally handed him the closer role in 2014 at age 24, he responded with 28 saves.  He was not perfect, for sure, but his 6-6 record was accompanied by a 3.65 ERA, a somewhat alarming WHIP of 1.484 and nearly 4 walks per 9 IP.  He gave up more hits than IP.  However, he did fan 9.4 on average per 9 inning, so there were encouraging signs as well. 

Looking at the history of his career, he went down quickly in 2015 and then missed all of 2016 and 2017 with recurring positive tests for PEDs.  He has the dubious distinction of being the first player to receive a lifetime ban from baseball for having failed three tests.  This past year, however, he also set another precedent, having applied for and received reinstatement.  I guess it’s the modern Steve Howe policy – do your drugs, but show you have the ability to put fans in the seats and you get more and more chances to succeed (and fail). 

Commissioner Rob Manfred tried to explain and justify his decision, "Under the terms of our collectively bargained Joint Drug Program, a permanently suspended player like Mr. Mejia has the right to apply to me for discretionary reinstatement after serving a minimum of two years. Upon receiving Mr. Mejia's application for reinstatement last year, I invited him to New York to meet with me. During our meeting, Mr. Mejia expressed regret for poor choices he made in the past and assured me that, if reinstated, he would adhere to the terms of the Program going forward. In light of Mr. Mejia's contrition, his commitment to comply with the Program in the future, and the fact that he will have already spent almost four consecutive years suspended without pay, I have decided to grant Mr. Mejia a final chance to resume his professional career."

Mejia is saying all the right things.  "I've had a long, difficult time away from the game to contemplate the mistakes I've made both with regard to my positive drug tests and also the false allegations I made about Major League Baseball's investigation into my testing history, Baseball is my profession, my passion and my life, and for those mistakes, I am truly sorry."

The question now is how well he will perform theoretically without PEDs and under a new manager who has probably never seen him pitch.  He did join the Mets organization this year in the minor leagues where he turned in some eye popping numbers in a very limited sample.  Over 7 IP he delivered an average of 12.9 Ks per 9 IP and just 1.3 walks. It certainly seems the now 28 year old deserves some consideration for a bullpen role, though whether or not you would entrust the closer role to him is something too soon to decide.