The Arizona Fall League is chock-full of young prospects looking to make their mark. Desert Diaries is your twice-weekly look at which of these up-and-comers could make a fantasy baseball splash in 2010.Hard-throwing New York Mets pitching prospect Jenrry Mejia certainly is an ambitious 20-year-old. And you would expect as much from a guy whose fastball sits between 93-96 miles per hour and reaches 98 at times. But Mejia fell short of a lofty goal he'd set for himself and now he's pitching in the Arizona Fall League to make sure he sets himself up for success in 2010.
"Somebody told me if you play in the big leagues at 20 years old, that's good," Mejia said. "I said, 'I know, but I wanted to play in the big leagues last year.'"
Mejia started 19 games in combined minor league work this season and posted a 3.14 ERA with 91 strikeouts in 94.2 innings. His better work came for Advanced-A St. Lucie where he finished with a sub-two ERA before being promoted to Double-A Binghamton. And even though his ERA ballooned at the next level, he did strike out more than a batter per inning.
Mejia's future is bright enough that Jerry Manuel spent some time in Arizona to see if Mejia was ready to help the Mets in 2010, according to Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News.
Read closely that the expectations for Mejia are set for the bullpen in 2010 if he breaks camp with the club. Even though the sample size is very small, Mejia's first two starts seem to show that he's not ready for big-league action.Manager Jerry Manuel traveled Tuesday from his home in Sacramento, Calif., to gauge whether Mejia may be able to help the Mets in the bullpen in early 2010.
GM Omar Minaya is also in attendance. Mejia projects as a No.1 or No.2 starter in the majors eventually.
In three innings of work Mejia has given up six hits and six earned runs for an 18.00 ERA. He's also walked six batters while only striking out two. And to make matters worse, batters are hitting .400 against him.
There is still plenty of time to turn things around out in the desert. Especially for a young man who Keith Law of ESPN calls the "most impressive arm so far" in Arizona.
Other Fantasy News From the Arizona Fall League
• Leading the AFL in strikeouts at this point is 23-year-old Chia-Jen Lo, who pitched most of the 2008 season in Double-A Corpus Christi for the Houston Astros. Lo has eight strikeouts in just six innings spread out over three appearances. He's only given up two hits and hasn't walked anyone. Lo should be on your keeper league radar at this point as he's projected to hit the major league level sometime around mid-2010 and could even close out games in the majors.
• Scott Sizemore batted a combined .308 in 130 games between Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo in 2009. He also hit 17 home runs and stole 21 bases. He's started the AFL in similar fashion, batting .368 with a 1.409 OPS in 19 at-bats. He's also leading the AFL with three home runs. Sizemore should get a chance in Spring Training to compete for the second base job in Detroit. Lynn Henning of The Detroit News reported earlier this month that Tigers' president and general manager Dave Dombrowski has basically handed Sizemore the job and says that he's ready for the next level.
• Chris Heisey is tearing up the AFL early on. He's batting .522 with a 1.593 OPS in his first 23 at-bats and has three doubles, a triple and two home runs. He leads the league in total bases, is second in batting average and slugging percentage, and is tied for the lead in base hits. More production like this could land Heisey in the Reds outfield as early as Opening Day, 2010.
