Under the radar Braves player promoted to Gwinnett

The Braves farm team has been nothing short of dominant early in the season, just like the big league club.

Fans got their first look at top prospect AJ Smith-Shawver yesterday afternoon, as he pitched 4.1 scoreless innings against the Cubs. Hurston Waldrep, the Braves’ #2 prospect, has a sub-1.00 ERA for AA Mississippi in his previous six starts. Owen Murphy has been practically unhittable for High-A Rome, and Spencer Schwellenbach has a 13-inning scoreless streak with 17 strikeouts since being promoted to AA.

These are the Braves’ top four prospects, and all of them have great futures, but some of the lesser-known players on the farm are having a lot of success early in 2024.

Ian Mejia, a right-hander, was promoted to AAA Gwinnett yesterday. It’s understandable that you’re unfamiliar with him. Prior to this season, I knew nothing about him, as he was not on most of the Braves’ top 30 prospect lists. However, the 2022 11th round selection has been one of the most remarkable arms thus far this season.

In eight starts for Mississippi, Mejia went 4-0 with a 1.69 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 42.2 innings, including a no-hitter on May 17.

This led to a promotion to Gwinnett yesterday.

Congrats to @_ianmejia, who was promoted to the Triple-A @GoStripers. The two-time Southern League Pitcher of the Week will debut for them tonight.

Read More https://t.co/omvwwBCzsL pic.twitter.com/uv9j6xLdta

— Mississippi Braves (@mbraves) May 23, 2024

Unfortunately, Mejia’s first outing with the Stripers didn’t go so smoothly. He only recorded four outs, giving up five earned runs on five hits and three walks.

It was obviously a tough dose of reality, but it shouldn’t detract from the season’s strong start. Alex Anthopulos and the Braves have had a lot of success unearthing talent outside of the first rounds of the MLB Draft. Look no further than AJ Smith-Shawver, a seventh-round pick who made his MLB debut at the age of 20.

Ian Mejia is definitely a player to keep an eye on for the rest of the season. Hopefully, he can recover from yesterday night, and if he does, we may see him in Atlanta later this year. To this time, none of the Braves’ young pitchers appear to desire to take over the fifth and final slot in the rotation.

Braves prospect Ian Mejia (@_ianmejia)has thrown a no hitter for the @mbraves!!!

7 IP, 0 R, 2 BB, 11 K

Mejia leads the Southern League with 54 K and has a 1.69 ERA pic.twitter.com/hDUIeHwByo

— Garrett Spain (@BravesMILB) May 18, 2024