Fansided

One prospect each MLB team should call up right now

By Joshua Sadlock

MONTREAL, QC - MARCH 27: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. #27 of the Toronto Blue Jays reacts after hitting a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals during the MLB preseason game at Olympic Stadium on March 27, 2018 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Toronto Blue Jays defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 1-0. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - MARCH 27: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. #27 of the Toronto Blue Jays reacts after hitting a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals during the MLB preseason game at Olympic Stadium on March 27, 2018 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Toronto Blue Jays defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 1-0. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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CLEVELAND, OH – SEPTEMBER 11: Francisco Mejia #33 of the Cleveland Indians at bat during the eighth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Progressive Field on September 11, 2017 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH – SEPTEMBER 11: Francisco Mejia #33 of the Cleveland Indians at bat during the eighth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Progressive Field on September 11, 2017 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /

Cleveland Indians: Francisco Mejia

The Cleveland Indians made their long-term commitments to catchers Yan Gomes and Roberto Perez hoping both would continue to provide occasional pop and solid defense behind the plate. Since winning his Silver Slugger in 2014, Gomes has hit just .218/.271/.383 with 41 home runs in 310 games. His defense has not fallen off much, but injuries have kept him off the field far too often.

Gomes was supposed to be the answer at catcher for the Indians, but paying him for another year-plus looks like a stretch for a team whose top prospect, Francisco Mejia is a catcher without much upside as a left fielder.  Perez is fine as a backup, but hit .433 OPS this year is particularly bad, even for someone who plays once or twice a week.

Mejia is the rare catcher with the ability to hit from both sides of the plate — and well. He burst onto the scene as a top prospect after hitting .342 with 29 doubles and 11 home runs in 2016 at the age of 20. He only built on that last year by hitting .297/.346/.490 at Double-A before reaching the big leagues.

The 22-year-old has looked off so far this year at Triple-A, but that isn’t much cause for concern given his track record. Mejia has a rocket arm behind the plate and nothing left to prove in the minor leagues. With injuries decimating their roster, the Indians need to call Mejia up and find creative ways to get his bat in the lineup.

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