Milwaukee Brewers Trade for RHP JC Mejia from Cleveland

The MLB offseason is relatively young, but David Stearns and the Milwaukee Brewers have already been quite busy.

Their latest addition is JC Mejia, who joins the Crew via a trade with the Cleveland Guardians. In return, the Milwaukee Brewers will be sending either cash or a player to be named later to Cleveland.

The 25-year-old right-hander made his big league debut in 2021, but prior to this past season, he had been working his way through the Cleveland minor league system. During his early stints in the Dominican Summer League, Mejia was primarily used out of the bullpen before making 16 starts in his 18 appearances in 2018 at both Single-A levels.

Mejia’s 2019 season was cut short due to injury, and he would end up making only eight starts that year in High-A ball. He then spent 2020 at the Alternate Training Site and began 2021 at Triple-A, where he made six starts over 10 appearances. Overall, during his minor league career, which spanned seven seasons and nearly 300 innings, Mejia posted a 3.12 ERA, a WHIP of 1.111, 8.7 K/9, and 2.6 BB/9.

With Cleveland at the big league level in 2021, Mejia was again primarily a starter, making 11 starts over his 17 appearances. But, unfortunately, the young pitcher would take his lumps. In 52.1 innings of work, Mejia posted an 8.25 ERA, a 6.15 FIP, and a WHIP of 1.605. He also gave up 13 home runs and 24 walks with 47 strikeouts.

However, despite the overall struggles, it’s worth mentioning that Mejia splits as a starter and a reliever were night and day. As a starter, he would post a 9.78 ERA, a WHIP of 1.795, and opponents had an OPS of .967 against him. But out of the bullpen, Mejia’s ERA was only 1.80, his WHIP was 0.800, and his opponent’s OPS was .575. This is why Stearns has already acknowledged that Mejia will be coming out of the bullpen for Milwaukee.

Below, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel takes a quick look at Mejia’s current pitch mix.

"“Mejia is primarily a fastball/slider pitcher, with a sinker that has been efficient in inducing groundballs. He also mixes in a changeup and occasional curve but if used exclusively out of the pen can stick primarily to the sinker/slider combo.”"

Mejia will compete for a spot in the Milwaukee Brewers’ bullpen this spring, but he was granted a fourth minor league option, so the Crew will have the flexibility of sending him back-and-forth between the big leagues and minors in 2022 if that’s what is required.