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On June 29th the St. Louis Cardinals promoted infielder Alex Mejia to the major league roster. He’s 2-for-10 with a home run over four games so far. Mejia wasn’t on many prospect lists pre-season so let’s take a look at what he offers.
Born in Sylmar, California, Mejia played college baseball as a shortstop for the University of Arizona, hitting .339/.365/.436 over three seasons from 2010 through 2012. Drafted in the fourth round in ‘12, he reached Double-A in 2014 and has spent the last few seasons shuttling between the Double-A and Triple-A rosters. He is a .255/.301/.338 hitter in his minor league career, including .273/.328/.372 in 304 Triple-A at-bats.
Mejia is listed at 6-1, 200, a right-handed hitter, born January 18th, 1991. Despite his height-weight data and his home run against the Washington Nationals on July 1st, he isn’t really a power hitter, looking much more like a line drive/all field spray hitter in the minors.
That said, he does occasionally turn on something for distance, showing just enough pop to keep pitchers honest, at least in the high minors. He is rather aggressive and doesn’t draw many walks, hampering his OBP.
On defense, Mejia is quite polished and has proven capable at second base, third base, and shortstop. His organic physical tools aren’t terrific and he won’t win gold gloves with his range or arm strength, but he makes all the routine plays and avoids mistakes.
Overall, Mejia profiles as a useful utility player with his versatility.