The talented right-handed pitcher has hit a bit of a rough patch lately.
Terry Collins is unsure whether or not Jenrry Mejia will take his next turn in the Mets' rotation on Wednesday, according to David Lennon of Newsday. And per Adam Rubin, Danny Knobler "believes [the] Mets will give serious weight to Rafael Montero starting Wednesday."
Long a part of the Mets' organization, Mejia has bounced back and forth between starting and relieving, most infamously as a member of the team's Opening Day bullpen in 2010. After a slew of injuries, including Tommy John surgery, Mejia returned and dazzled in a brief stint with the Mets last year.
He opened the season in the team's rotation and had a 1.99 ERA through four starts. His fifth start was going just fine until a meltdown sixth inning, and he got rocked by the Rockies in the fifth inning of his sixth start. Last night against the Phillies, Mejia threw a lot of pitches and lasted four-and-two-thirds innings, avoiding a meltdown but not pitching deep into the game.
Aside from his three-inning injury-shortened start last year, Mejia has averaged roughly 5 ⅔ innings per start between last year and this year. Terry Collins said yesterday that Mejia would be limited to about 120 innings of work this year.
As for Montero, he currently has a 3.67 ERA and 3.97 FIP through eight starts for the Las Vegas 51s. Typically very stingy with walks in his minor league career, he's struggled a bit with them this year. In sixteen starts with Vegas last year, Montero had a 3.05 ERA and 3.24 FIP. Of course, just a couple days ago, Montero was rumored to be coming up to the Mets as a relief pitcher. He was ranked third on our top prospects list for 2014.