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JENRRY MEJIA
Folks like the fact that in 31 games in Venezuela, our very own Luisangel Acuna hit .339 with 18 steals.
And Joey Meneses hit .320 with 10 HRs in 62 workhorse games.
But what quality of pitching are they facing?
35 year old Jenrry Mejia remarkably is still pitching - not that much, and not all that well - but I still fondly remember the 10+ pitch battle he lost to Ryan Howard one game when he was the Mets closer in 2014.
But the saves leader this year in the Dominican Winter League is not Jenrry, but J.C. Mejia.
JC? 19 games, 13 saves, 1.88 ERA, 0.96 WHIP.
Major league potential?
Well, he has pitched in the majors.
Career, his stats in the bigs are:
2-7, 8.32 ERA, 1.70 WHIP.
Heck, Juan Lagares hit .323 in part-time play, and he has been out of the big leagues since June 2022 and is turning 36 soon.
The morale to that story?
Take winter league stats with 3 or 4 grains of salt.
DISAPPOINTING EXECUTIVE POLL RESULTS
An article on the Mets website Executive Poll Picks listed prospect selections, in a baseball executives poll, of best hitters, best power, best speed, best fastball, best secondary pitches.
Sorry, but Jett Williams and Drew Gilbert were not in the top hitter or speed categories - but you kind of knew that already, right?
(No, Nick Morabito didn't crack the speed list either - maybe not considered a high enough prospect yet.)
Pitching, however, was disappointing - no Brandon Sproat or Jonah Tong.
15 prospects' names were listed for best fastball, and 14 were listed for best secondary pitch. Sproat and Tong made neither list.
One might have hoped Sproat would crack that top 15 in FBs, but nope.
9 comments:
Ancient Robby Cano has played some winter ball and a lot of Mexican Independent Ball in 2024 into early 2025. His slash line? .424/.467/.623. I rest my case.
Our farm system is still very mediocre. And with few top of the first round picks likely to happen anytime soon, Stearns and his new team will definitely earn their money if they can fill up the pipeline with high end prospects.
As to winter league, while it’s better to play well than not, you’re right Tom, it doesn’t mean a whole lot. Particularly for leagues other than the Dominican, which seems to be far and away the top level of such things. I doubt that fact will get in the way of all of the Mets fans who nevertheless expect Acuña to step in on opening day. He’s got a lot to prove still. Fortunately, I expect to see second half ‘24 McNeil at 2B for us this season, and that should be more than fine until one of the kids (hopefully) bangs down the big league door later this year or even next.
Sign him!!! 😏
Think the Mets have a pretty solid farm system.
McNeil needs to be Super Squirrel to support the Mets and Soto.
The Winter Leagues problem is a baseball problem pointed out in an article by Mack recently, as to why there are so many reasons pitchers get hurt. So, there are better hitters than pitchers in these winter leagues. Good pitchers won't pitch in these leagues, for realistic fear of injury that sets their careers back. You can see it from the batting averages. Acuna's .339 was to be applauded, but still was just the 15th highest in that league. So, 14 other guys hit above .340, with some over .400.
Cano must need the money poor guy. Hated to read Soto may play winter ball next year.... WHAT!!!!! please say NO
Gary, I think it is only 10 games for Soto next year, a winter tune up. I would not be in favor of him playing a lot, but 10 games against weak pitching is a tune up..
I am pleased to see Acuna playing winter ball so well. It doesn't matter that the competition is not MLB level players. There are still plenty of good ballplayers there, and with dominant stats comes confidence which is a prerequisite to performing in spring training. Bring it on!
Paul, I agree. My one qualm with his play there is attempting 19 steals. His 18 steals were second highest. By now, you know how to steal from many games in the minors. Why risk getting injured stealing in meaningless games, when the focus should be on hitting enhancement, which often does come with extra playing time in real games. I bet Ronny Mo wishes he heeded that warning.
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