 Currently in Atlanta, you have Freddie Freeman playing first base for the Braves. Though he may be doing well now, he's gonna have to be looking over his shoulder. This reason why is because down at Gwinnett in the Triple-A level, the Braves have a talented, power-hitting first baseman by the name of Ernesto Mejia. Ernesto originally signed with the Braves organization back in 2003 from then to 2010, he spent most of his time down at the lower levels of the Braves Organization (Gulf Coast League, Single-A, Double-A). Then in 2010, Ernesto signed on with the Kanas City Royals minor league squads at the Single-A and Double-A levels before resigning with the Braves organization in 2011.
Then in 2012, Ernesto broke onto the Triple-A scene and made an impact for the Gwinnett Braves. In 133 games in Gwinnett, Ernesto had 514 plate appearances with 152 hits (.296 BA), had 24 HRs with an International League leading 92 RBIs, a .347 On-Base Percentage, .502 Slugging Percentage, and OPS of .849. Because his breakout season, Ernesto was named 2012 IL Rookie of the Year and was named 2012 IL Mid-Season All-Star, 2012 IL Post-Season All-Star, and 2012 MiLB.com Organization All-Star. He then capped it off with an impressive 2012-13 Venezuela Winter League season with a .298 BA with 16 HR and 48 RBIs in 61 games with the Aguilas del Zulia and was named MVP. Currently, Ernesto is batting a mild .231 BA in 143 plate apperances. However he still leads his team in home runs (11), RBIs (29), walks (34) and is 3rd on the team in slugging (.517) and OPS (.864) among Gwinnett Brave players who have been in 20 or more games. His 11 HRs ties him with 1B Luis Jimenez of the Buffalo Bison and 3B Danny Valencia of the Norfolk Tides for most HRs in the 2013 season. There is still a lot of baseball to be played as we pass by the first quarter of the season. But you can bet that Ernesto will continue where he left off in 2012 and perhaps at the end of the season, you could see him in the running for the 2013 IL MVP. --Scoop Fox |
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