Adalberto Mejia

Position: LHP
Born: 6/20/1993
Height: 6'3
Weight: 195
B/T: R/L
Acquired: Via trade from the Giants on July 29, 2016, for SS Eduardo Nunez (MIN). Originally signed as an international free agent (Dominican Republic) on February 1, 2011 (SFG).

Most Recent Stats at Time of Debut
CURRENT SEASON STATS: 8-5 with a 3.10 ERA in 21 starts between Richmond (Double-A/Giants), Sacramento (Triple-A/Giants) and Rochester (Triple-A/Twins), striking out 121 and walking 30 while allowing 111 hits in 125 innings.

Info & MLB Debut Date
Recalled from Rochester August 20 when 1B Kennys Vargas was sent down.
MLB Debut Date: 8/20/2016

Debut Details
August 20, in a 10-0 loss to the Royals. The second of three pitchers on the night, he allowed two runs, both earned, on five hits over two-and-a-third innings, walking one. Of 42 pitches, 26 were for strikes. He came on in relief of starter Hector Santiago with no on and two outs in the fifth innings and got the first big-league batter he faced, Alcides Escobar, to ground out to third base. In the sixth, leadoff batter Christian Colon grounded out back to the mound before Paulo Orlando singled right field, followed by a Cheslor Cuthbert single which moved Orlando to third. Lorenzo Cain delivered a sacrifice fly to center field to score Orlando. Eric Hosmer then singled to center and Kendrys Morales drew a walk to load the bases with two outs, but Mejia got Salvador Perez to pop out to shortstop to strand the runners and end the threat. In the seventh, Alex Gordon led things off with a ground rule double to right field. Escobar followed by lining out to right before Colon collected a “double” on a pop up to shallow left field which left fielder Robbie Grossman misjudged and shortstop Jorge Polanco finally fielded (though not before Grossman kicked it foul), allowing Gordon to score. Orlando then flew out and Cuthbert grounded back to Mejia to end the inning – and Mejia’s night.

Player Notes
Mejia, who was sent back to the minors the day after his debut, brings a career 3.32 ERA into his major league debut, boasting a plus fastball in the middle 90s with good command. In 2015 at Richmond, he went 5-2 with a 2.45 ERA in 12 games, nine of them starts, striking out 39 batters and walking 18 in 51.1 IP while, limiting opposing hitters to a .204 average. That was an improvement on his 2014 campaign at the same stop, where he was 7-9 with a 4.67 ERA in 22 starts, fanning 82 and walking 31 in 108 innings while allowing 119 hits. Now, you may have noticed those questions marks under his height and weight, and you cannot shout at editor Mark Shreve for missing that information. Most official rosters list Mejia at 6’1” and 195 pounds while a few show him at 6’3”/195, whereas the usually accurate Baseball America Prospect Handbook has him at 6’3 and 240. Now, of course, that could just be a typo. However, if you note his low number of innings in 2015, that was due to a 50-game suspension served for a prohibited drug that is usually used for weight loss, and most write-ups on the southpaw describe him along the lines of “thickly built.” (BA describes him as “thick-waisted, thick-legged”) Our scouting report on Mejia from this past May listed his official height and weight but noted “heavier than listed.” So, to be better safe than sorry, I bring you my good, good friend the asterisk. Maybe he’s 6’1” and 195. Maybe he’s 6’3” and 195. Maybe he’s 6’3” and 240. The eyeball test says he is closer to the latter than the former. Who cares. He can pitch.

2080 Notes
Time missed in 2015 notwithstanding, Mejia clocked in on 2080’s Preseason Top 125 Prospect Rankings List at No. 120 where we noted: “Mejia was suspended for the first 50 games of the 2015 season but returned strongly, posting a 2.45 ERA over 12 starts at Double-A Richmond.” You can also check out our scouting report on Mejia from this past May here.