One of several recent highly-touted outfielders to come from Cuba, which team Mesa would sign with was one of last off-season’s biggest headlines. After a well-publicized workout at Marlins Park for all 30 organizations, he and younger brother Victor Mesa Jr. both inked seven-figure deals with Miami. Victor Victor was talked about as a quick-to-the-bigs type of prospect at the time, though a trying first two months in A-Ball have showed holes in his game that could make it a longer development track than initially anticipated. Mesa’s batting average has hovered around .200 with little power in the Florida State League, with iffy in-person showings for numerous scouts that suggest the eyeball test has agreed with those numbers so far.

Mesa’s long-limbed and athletic frame makes him appear taller than his listed height of 5-foot-9. There’s little question about his speed or defense, as he played a solid CF in my viewings and showed glimpses of an above-average arm. The ability to play up-the-middle and contribute across numerous facets of the game raises Mesa’s floor, though he’ll need to show more life at the plate to hit his way into a contending lineup every day. He swung through secondary stuff consistently, also struggling to get his front foot down on time and turn around velocity. There wasn’t much hard contact across a multi-game viewing, though flashes of average raw power in BP suggest there’s at least the potential to drive the ball.

Mesa hasn’t played competitive games in over a year, so some of how he has started 2019 should be chalked up to shaking off understandable rust. So long as he can produce offensively close to positional norms, the ceiling is still an everyday CF with solid defensive and baserunning contributions. That said, the longer he struggles at the plate, the more reason there will be to consider scenarios in which Mesa winds up more of a glove-first role player or well-rounded reserve.