http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/i...erge-of-historic-minor-league-hitting-streak/[h=1]Indians prospect on the verge of historic minor league hitting streak[/h][h=2]Francisco Mejia has hit safely in 44 straight and is one short of tying the modern minor league record[/h]
Over the weekend, Indians catcher prospect Francisco Mejia jumped into the national spotlight by being the headliner in the package that was going to bring Jonathan Lucroy to Cleveland. Instead, Lucroy blocked the trade and Mejia remains with the Indians organization.
Wednesday night, Mejia has a chance to jump into the spotlight again, this time for something he does on the field. The 20-year-old backstop has hit safely in 44 straight games and is one away from tying the longest hitting streak in the minors since reclassification in 1961. Former Mariners prospect James McOwen hit in 45 straight in 2009.
J.J. Cooper of Baseball America has some more on the longest minor-league hitting streaks:
Mejia's hitting streak dates back to May 27, when he was still in Low Class-A ball. He was promoted to High Class-A in late June and has not missed a beat. Mejia is hitting .345/.376/.519 with 21 doubles and nine homers in 80 total games this year. That kind of production is impressive for anyone, but especially so for a catcher who has to put up with the day-to-day grind of squatting behind the plate.
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<figcaption class="image-embed-figcaption">Indians prospect Francisco Mejia has a 44-game hitting streak at the moment. USATSI </figcaption></figure>MLB.com ranked Mejia the No. 100 prospect in baseball in their midseason top 100 prospects update. Here's a snippet of their free scouting report:
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</figure> - by Mike Axisa
- @mikeaxisa
- <time datetime="2016-08-03 19:28:00 UTC">1h ago</time> • 2 min read
Over the weekend, Indians catcher prospect Francisco Mejia jumped into the national spotlight by being the headliner in the package that was going to bring Jonathan Lucroy to Cleveland. Instead, Lucroy blocked the trade and Mejia remains with the Indians organization.
Wednesday night, Mejia has a chance to jump into the spotlight again, this time for something he does on the field. The 20-year-old backstop has hit safely in 44 straight games and is one away from tying the longest hitting streak in the minors since reclassification in 1961. Former Mariners prospect James McOwen hit in 45 straight in 2009.
J.J. Cooper of Baseball America has some more on the longest minor-league hitting streaks:
Mejia's streak will also crack the top 10 hit streaks in organized baseball history if he can get a hit tonight at home against Potomac.
Wichita's Joe Wilhoit (Western League) holds the all-time minor league record with 69 games in 1919. Joe DiMaggio actually holds two of the three longest hit streaks in pro baseball history. In addition to his 56-game MLB record set in 1941, he also has the second-longest minor league streak with a 61-game hit streak in the Pacific Coast League in 1933.
It's worth noting that minor-league record keeping is spotty because stats were not always reliably kept for all leagues. It's possible there have been other hitting streaks of 40-plus games that we're not aware of, especially if they spanned multiple minor leagues because a player was promoted or traded.Wichita's Joe Wilhoit (Western League) holds the all-time minor league record with 69 games in 1919. Joe DiMaggio actually holds two of the three longest hit streaks in pro baseball history. In addition to his 56-game MLB record set in 1941, he also has the second-longest minor league streak with a 61-game hit streak in the Pacific Coast League in 1933.
Mejia's hitting streak dates back to May 27, when he was still in Low Class-A ball. He was promoted to High Class-A in late June and has not missed a beat. Mejia is hitting .345/.376/.519 with 21 doubles and nine homers in 80 total games this year. That kind of production is impressive for anyone, but especially so for a catcher who has to put up with the day-to-day grind of squatting behind the plate.
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The switch-hitting Mejia knows how to handle the bat. He has natural hitting ability from both sides of the plate and makes hard contact consistently, while his combination of physical strength and bat speed produces good raw power ... Mejia continues to develop behind the plate, where he projects to be at least an average defender ... Mejia has all the ingredients to develop into an everyday catcher in the big leagues.
The Indians originally signed Mejia as a 17-year-old out of Dominican Republic in 2013. They gave him a $350,000 bonus and have watched him develop into one of the top catching prospects in baseball. He's now on the verge of making history if he can record a hit in his 45th straight game Wednesday night.
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