Not a top prospect, and has never pitched above High-A ball, but the Marlins (now with the Diamondbacks) need an arm, and here comes Humberto Mejía to start for them at least once.
- Born: March 3, 1997
- B/T: Right/Right
- 6’4″, 235-lbs
- Drafted by the Miami Marlins out of Panama, later traded to the Diamondbacks
The Numbers
His raw numbers are listed above courtesy of baseball-reference.com. Let’s aggregate by year then focus on the important numbers for minor leaguers:
Shoulder injuries cost him 2017, but since then he has put up very, very nice numbers. He doesn’t walk too many, and he strikes out enough, and batters aren’t getting many hits off him (career 0.214 oppBA). Granted the now 23-year-old was doing this against A-ball and A+ hitters, so we really don’t know what he could do against Double-A or higher.
Still, all we can ask is to do well against whoever you faced, and he did just that.
Lefties hit him a bit more than righties, but it wasn’t extreme.
Fairly balanced, the long balls went out to right field, probably off lefty hitters.
In 2018 he adjusted to low-A for a couple of months, and then the light went on.
In 2019 he started at A ball at that same level, and held it. Then he gets bumped to A+ and doesn’t sink much. And this is a very nice level to average.
The Scouts
- Rotowire: Not on their Top 400.
- BaseballHQ: Not on their Top 100.
- Fangraphs: Not on their Top 120.
- Fantasy Six Pack: Not on their dynasty list.
- Prospects365: Not on Ray Butler’s Top 200.
- Imaginary Brick Wall: Not on the Top 487.
- Fantrax: Not on the Top 250.
Warnings
The scouts mostly ignore him. He does not have the greatest tools. He hasn’t even sniffed Double-A. He’s had arm problems. Shall I go on? He’s a risk.
Conclusion
Yet here he is, making his major league debut. He has a nice mid-90s fastball that has really good vertical movement. If he can locate that fastball at the top of the strike zone, it should be effective.
His best pitch is his upper-70s curve with lots of depth.
His changeup is behind the other two, and is the key to his remaining a starter. If that develops, and if his walk rate doesn’t inflate too much in the majors, he could be a back of the rotation starter. If not, that FB/CB combo, both with excellent movement, would make him effective in the bullpen.
Hey, he’s made it to the majors. His future is now in his hands.