Jenrry Mejía

Jenrry Manuel Mejía (born October 11, 1989) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball. He signed with the Mets as an international free agent on April 4, 2007.

Early life

Growing up, Mejía lived with his parents and younger brother in a neighborhood called Herrera, near Santo Domingo's former airport of the same name.^[1] Starting at the age of 11, he made his living by shining shoes, earning about 300 pesos a day.^[1] He did not play baseball until he was 15 years old, only becoming interested in the sport once he realized that players were able to earn a large signing bonus.^[1] He drew some interest from the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, but was not seen at that time as a top talent because he was small and slight of build.^[1] He ultimately signed with the Mets for $16,500.^[1]

Baseball career

In 2007, Mejía played for the DSL Mets. He recorded a 2–3 record with a 2.47 ERA 14 games (7 starts). The next year Mejía pitched for the GCL Mets and the Brooklyn Cyclones. His combined statistics were a 5–2 record, with a 2.89 ERA in 14 starts.^{[citation needed]}

Mejía started the 2009 season pitching for the Single-A St. Lucie Mets. He was 4–1 with a 1.97 ERA. Then, he and Bradley Holt were both promoted to Double-A Binghamton. There he posted a 0–4 record with a 4.38 ERA in 6 starts as of August 18. He also missed seven weeks with a strained middle finger on his pitching hand.^[1]

Because of his success in the 2009 season, he has been named the 48th best prospect in the major leagues in the MLB.com Midseason Top 50 Prospect list. After the 2009 season, the Mets assigned him to the Surprise Rafters of the Arizona Fall League. In February 2010, Mejía was ranked as the 56th best prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America.^{[citation needed]}

Mejía made the Mets 2010 opening day roster as a relief pitcher, making him the youngest Met to make an opening day roster since Dwight Gooden.^[2] He made his major league debut on April 7, 2010.^{[citation needed]}

On June 29, 2010 Mejia was sent back down to Double-A Binghamton to become a starter and Bobby Parnell took his spot in the Mets bullpen.^{[citation needed]}

On September 4, 2010, Mejia made his first major league start for the Mets at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs. Mike Nickeas, who caught Mejia, also made his debut in the majors on the same day.^{[citation needed]}

After starting for the Mets' Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo on April 29, 2011, Mejia left the game after four innings due to elbow discomfort. He was diagnosed a few days later with a complete tear of his medial collateral ligament and required surgery.^[3]

Mejia was activated from the 60-day disabled list on July 26, 2013, and started the first game of a day-night doubleheader against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. He pitched 7 scoreless innings, giving up 7 hits, striking out 7, and walking none en route to his first win of the season.^{[citation needed]}

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)