The Youth Resurrection

The major league career of Jenrry Mejia resumed at Wrigley Field … this time as a starter.  You, being the savvy baseball fan you are, realize that there isn’t a better place for your first start in the majors than at Wrigley Field.

He wasn’t great, but he wasn’t particularly bad.  And hey, we’re not looking at results so much as we’re looking at the peripherals: poise, command, movement (not necessarily in that order).  Mejia had enough.  He doesn’t need to have it all in his first start at Wrigley Field.  The last guy who started for the Mets as young as Mejia didn’t do so well in his Wrigley Field debut either … and that was not only Doc Gooden’s second start, but his second appearance.  It’s a tough place to be young and hyped.  He’s fine.

The rap on the Mets has been that they rush their prospects.  Generally, it hasn’t gone well for this current regime.  Well Mejia has been rushed twice in one season … first as a reliever where Snoop told him to just throw fastballs (thus wasting everybody’s time), and now rushed through as a starter after nine starts in the minors.  But at least he’s going to get to throw to major league hitters for a month before they pack the bats.  The mistake would be to expect the world from him in the next four, five starts.  He’s survived the rushes to the majors.  Us, as fans, need to be careful not to rush the expectations.

I’m just happy to see that his career is back on the right track and not the track that Snoop laid down for him way back in March.  Again, at least he’s playing.  Ask Nick Evans how valuable September playing time in the majors is, as he’s been called back up … presumably to make sure Mike Hessman has refreshing drinks at the ready so he can be fully equipped to strike out in the ninth.

The good news is the Mets are scouting Yu Darvish, who sources are reporting I like a lot.  Maybe they have a bad taste in their mouth from deciding that Aroldis Chapman and his 239 mph slider wasn’t worth the money.  But as is the Mets luck, this is the part of the program where Darvish announces that he’s wanted to play for the Tampa Bay Rays since he was six years old even though they didn’t exist until he was 12.