The Nationals may have stumbled onto a very different kind of pitching prospect.
Erick Mejia, once an outfielder and already a former big leaguer, switched to the mound in March of 2025 and has started to look like more than a novelty. After spending six years since his major league debut with the Kansas City Royals, Mejia’s path took him through 17 total MLB games in 2019 and 2020 before he was stuck in the minors from 2021-24. At 31, he decided to keep his career going as a right-handed pitcher.
The early results were bumpy. Mejia finished last season with a 4.59 ERA over 45 appearances split between Single-A Fredericksburg, Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester.
That led Washington to send him back to Double-A Harrisburg after he re-signed this season. Since then, though, he’s been making noise.
At Harrisburg, Mejia posted a 1.50 ERA in 22 outings, striking out 32 batters in 24 innings while issuing 13 walks. The Nationals then bumped him up to Rochester, and he’s been even sharper there, allowing no runs over four innings across three appearances while striking out four and walking two.
The stuff is what has people paying attention. As Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic wrote, “Among pitchers who have thrown at least 20 innings in the organization this year, no one has a lower ERA (1.29) and only nine pitchers have a higher strikeout rate. He has a brand-new slider, which should play well off the oft-used cutter,”
The underlying pitch data backs up the buzz. Mejia’s arsenal has earned a tjStuff+ rating of 108 at Triple-A, according to TJStats.com.
His four-seam fastball, which he has thrown 54.3% of the time, checks in at 111. The other pitches haven’t been thrown enough to get a full read yet, but the combination of a strong fastball and usable off-speed options is an encouraging sign.
For now, Mejia looks like a name to track as a late-season callup candidate. And if Washington’s current relievers keep struggling, that promotion could come sooner rather than later.
In Other News...
Orioles Already Flipped Kyle Nicolas Again For Something Else
The Nationals made a small but notable move in adding reliever Kyle Nicolas, then promptly sent him to Triple-A Rochester while clearing a 40-man spot by moving Mitchell Parker to the 60-day injured list. It was the kind of roster shuffle that comes with July business, but it also put Washington in position to take a closer look at a power arm whose big-league track record has been uneven and whose control has long been part of the conversation.
There is also a bit of franchise history tucked into the transaction. The deal with Baltimore was the first trade between the clubs since the Nationals moved from Montreal to Washington in 2005, a reminder that even neighboring teams can go years without matching up in the transaction market. For Washington, the bigger question now is whether Nicolas can turn the raw stuff that keeps him interesting into something more reliable once he settles in with Rochester. [Read more 🡒]
Diamondbacks Linked To Another Rotation Target Fans Have Wanted
The market for young pitching may be starting to take shape, and the latest name drawing interest is Los Angeles Angels left-hander Reid Detmers. St. Louis has been mentioned as a possible trade suitor, but the discussion around Detmers also includes Washington, Arizona and Oakland, which is hardly a surprise given the appeal of a starter who is still under club control through 2028 and showing signs he can handle a bigger role.
Detmers has put together a 3.88 ERA this season and has already worked himself into the conversation as a potential frontline starter. His June run only helped that case, and for a Nationals club that has been tied to the same pitching conversation as several others, the question is less about whether the fit makes sense and more about how aggressive the front office wants to get if the asking price starts climbing. [Read more 🡒]