Let me begin by stressing that in my perfect world, Jenrry Mejia would be learning how to deploy his secondary pitches at Double-A. And clearly, I’m not alone; Jerry Manuel said this evening that moving Mejia from the bullpen to start at Double-A “has come under some debate.” I can only presume Manuel won out due to a front office member’s irrational belief that rock beats everything in rock-paper-scissors.
As Gob Bluth would say regarding Mejia as middle reliever, “There’s not a lot of logic to it. It’s kind of like on a boat with women and children first.”
But let’s say the Mets have decided to keep Mejia in the major leagues either way. Should John Maine falter in what David Lennon referred to as his “do-or-die start” on Sunday night, why not replace Maine with Mejia?
Instead of throwing one inning every 4-5 days, Mejia could get the chance to throw 5-6 innings every 5-6 days. His secondary pitches would get regular work, and all that could possibly suffer is his self-confidence-since he’d likely get battered as a starter right now.
After all, he’s not yet even mastered Double-A. That’s where he belongs. So if he fails as a starter, the Mets could very well… send him down for more seasoning.
At that point, he’ll be stretched out, and the time facing major league hitters is only likely to help him learn to deploy his other pitches.
More importantly, it doesn’t keep him in the bullpen, where the options are poor either way. If Jerry Manuel decides he is a key member of the bullpen, Pedro Feliciano-style, Mejia may be overworked, one inning at a time-stints where he’ll largely be reliant on his fastball.
If not, his repertoire will be allowed to rust, while making the number of innings he should throw in 2011 lower with each passing day.
So if it comes to replacing Maine in the rotation, my vote is for Mejia. That reflects my belief that the 2-5 start is no early-season blip, and the building for 2011 cannot begin soon enough. That reflects my belief that the Mets will find a way to hurt Mejia’s development, with a manager and general manager rightfully fearing for their jobs.
It’s the Mets: The Gobias Industries of baseball. The key is hoping for the best of the worst-case scenarios.
Original Story:
http://nybaseballdigest.com/?p=23676
