Atlanta Braves Top Prospects – Just Missed Edition
Dilmer Mejia, Left Handed Pitcher
From TT writer Ryan Cothran:
Ricardo Sanchez is getting all the praise as a top-rated, young LH starting pitching prospect. And while the praise is worthy, there is a player that was already in the Braves organization that’s essentially the exact age as Sanchez whom I think deserves equal praise. Dilmer Mejia pitched in the Dominican Summer League and in the Gulf Coast league as a 16-year old last year. In 74 innings, he dominated much older competition, showing 3 pitches that should grade as plus with more development, and an other-worldly control of the strike zone for such a young age.
CB Wilkins, known Braves’™ prospect guru and Braves’ freelance photographer (follow him on Twitter if you’re not already!) said there have been conflicting reports of Mejia being a power guy or a control guy but those conflicts may just be due to the fact that his control really blossomed this year and the power (fastball in the low to mid 90s) was already present. Regardless, both he and I agree that Mejia deserves as much attention as Ricardo Sanchez, and will likely get it this upcoming season. It i™s fun knowing names before the other guys, and I would be willing to bet my house that Dilmer Mejia will climb the Braves’™ prospect chart very rapidly. While there are few reports out there about Mejia, the most eye-popping came from a group of guys that take pride in finding the talent in the lower minors before the players get real exposure. Here’™s what Under the Radar Minors had to say about Mejia:
"The talent within the DSL is suspect at best and the cream usually rises quite fast, but a 16-year old putting up these numbers is astounding. Through five starts, the lefty Mejia has only allowed one earned run over 25 innings, with 22 strikeouts and 4 walks. Could we possibly be seeing another Julio Urias, but rising from the lower levels? The Braves know how to handle their young arms and Mejia will get the proper development. And though it may take him longer to rise through the system, Mejia could possibly “someday” surpass Urias’™ ceiling."
Urias, the #2 prospect for the Los Angeles Dodgers prior to the 2014 season, graded out at a B+ by John Sickels prior to the 2014 season, and likely will be an A in Sickels’™ new rankings, and the Top-10 in the entire MLB. It says a lot that serious Minor League scouts are comparing the 2. While Sickels doesn’™t have Mejia listed this year on his Braves’™ prospect list, it may be more about lack of exposure than anything else. Look for Mejia to move stateside for the full year (had stint in the GCL last year) this upcoming season, likely at Danville with a promotion to Rome should his growth continue. If his growth continues, he could go from relatively unknown to MLB’s top-100 in a year. Ricardo Sanchez, Dilmer Mejia, and Garret Fulenchek in the same rotation? That should be lights out for opponents.