February 3, 2014

Jenrry Mejia On Track To Be Fifth Starter

In a lunchtime post, Star Ledger reporter Jorge Castillo reports that Jenrry Mejia is now in route to Port St. Lucie, FL after spending the majority of the winter at the team's Dominican Republic complex rehabbing his surgically repaired right elbow.

You'll recall that the still just twenty-four year old Mejia was promoted last season in late July with the knowledge that he had bone chips floating in his throwing elbow.  Assuming he could play through the pain, he could do no further damage.  Pitch he did...throwing to a 2.30 ERA over 27.1 innings in which he struck out 27 and walked just 4 batters.  Mejia was dazzled, providing fans with glimpses of the prospect he once was until the pain became too much.  Mejia left his August 17th start after just three innings and soon had surgery to remove the chips under the notion that he would be good to go by Spring Training.

That appears to be the case, as Castillo quotes Latin American Baseball Operations Director Juan Henderson as saying that Mejia "is on the right track."  Henderson also stats that Mejia will now continue the rehabilitation program he started in the Dominican Republic and that he should be "fine and ready to compete in the states."

This is good news for the Mets, who've recently signed both John Lannan and Daisuke Matsuzaka to compete with Mejia for the final spot in the rotation.  If healthy the spot will almost certainly go to Mejia, who's future with the organization is cloudy right now due to the likes of Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero who should find their way into the rotation this summer.  However for now, a healthy Mejia is all the Mets can ask for.  Whether he remains healthy will be the question going forward.

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