Ernesto Mejía
| Ernesto Mejía | |
|---|---|
| Saitama Seibu Lions – No. 99 | |
| First baseman | |
| Born: December 2, 1985 Guanare, Venezuela | |
Bats: Right Throws: Right | |
| NPB debut | |
| May 15, 2014, for the Saitama Seibu Lions | |
| NPB statistics (through July 29, 2018) | |
| Batting average | .251 |
| Hits | 465 |
| Home runs | 122 |
| Runs batted in | 332 |
| Teams | |
| |
Ernesto Antonio Mejía Alvarado [meh-HEE-ah] (born December 2, 1985) is a Venezuelan first baseman for the Saitama Seibu Lions of the Pacific League. Listed at 6' 5", 245 lb., he bats and throws right handed.[1]
Career
Mejía was signed by the Braves as a non-drafted free agent on July 8, 2002, and started his minor league career with the GCL Braves rookie team in 2005. But he spent six full seasons in the minors, playing also for the Kansas City Royals system (2010), before reaching Triple-A level with the Gwinnett Braves in 2012.
Mejía led the circuit in RBI (92), hits (150) and total bases (256), was second both in SLG (.517) and at-bats (489), and tied for second in home runs (24), ending third in extra-bases (57), fourth in OPS (.858), fifth in runs (72) and eight in batting average (.298), while tying for sixth in both doubles (32) and games played (126). Mejía earned the International League Rookie of the Year distinction as well as the Postseason All-Star team. The All-Star nod is his sixth All-Star selection. He also became the third consecutive Gwinnett Braves player to claim the award for the league's top rookie, joining Freddie Freeman (2010) and Julio Teherán (2011).[2]
Mejía was released by the Braves on April 26, 2014 so that he could sign with the Saitama Seibu Lions.[3] Mejía led NPB's Pacific League with 34 home runs in 2014, finishing in a tie for the top spot with Takeya Nakamura. In his first three seasons with the Lions through 2016, Mejia batted .257 overall with 96 home runs and 265 RBIs.
References
- ^ "– Ernesto Mejia profile". Milb.com. January 1, 2012. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
- ^ Lezotte, Dave. "– Mejia Captures IL Rookie of the Year Award". Milb.com. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
- ^ First Baseman Ernesto Mejia Released from Braves Roster
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Pura Pelota (VPBL stats)
- 1985 births
- Living people
- Águilas del Zulia players
- Baseball first basemen
- Caribbean Series players
- Danville Braves players
- Gulf Coast Braves players
- Gwinnett Braves players
- Mississippi Braves players
- Myrtle Beach Pelicans players
- Navegantes del Magallanes players
- Nippon Professional Baseball first basemen
- Northwest Arkansas Naturals players
- People from Guanare
- Rome Braves players
- Saitama Seibu Lions players
- Wilmington Blue Rocks players
- Venezuelan baseball players
- Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Japan
- Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States
- Venezuelan people of African descent