Warren Schaeffer praised the ‘nasty stuff’ of his young pitcher after Rockies win

The Colorado Rockies have had a few bright spots in their bullpen this year, and the 'nasty stuff' of a 24-year-old reliever has built a great level of trust with interim manager Warren Schaeffer

BY TRENT FINNEGAN

Jun 17, 2025, 9:28 AM

Follow on Google News

Watch: A Backup QB Battle, Bo Nix And The Broncos Get Used To Davis Webb, And Could Taysom Hill Be Denver-Bound - Three Big Things From Broncos Training Camp | 14 mins

Don’t let the Colorado Rockies get hot! After Monday night’s comeback victory in the ninth inning over the Washington Nationals, the Rockies have now won more games in the month of June than they did in both April and May, and there’s still plenty of baseball to be played for the rest of the month. Hunter Goodman was the star of the show with his two home runs, but a young bullpen arm for the Rockies turned some heads.

Juan Mejia, the 24-year-old reliever out of the Dominican Republic, threw just one and a third innings on Monday but retired all four batters he faced in just 17 pitches. The quick work settled down the Rockies defense after Carson Palmquist let things get out of control in the fourth inning, and reaffirmed interim manager Warren Schaeffer’s faith in his young arm.

“Juan Mejia’s got nasty stuff. I know he’s a young pitcher, but I trust him, I trust him with all I got,” Schaeffer said after Monday’s win. “He’s got a nasty fastball with movement, and a slider which is really good and he’s got a calm demeanor. These are all things that make a good reliever.”

Mejia has the third-best ERA on the team among players who have pitched in at least five games at 3.32. His strikeouts per nine innings rate (10.0) and WHIP (1.20) are both second to only Jake Bird, who is one of the top dogs to get the Rockies All-Star spot in July.

Mejia has only thrown 21.2 innings this season for Schaeffer’s bullpen because he’s been bouncing up and down between the big leagues and the Albuquerque Isotopes in Triple-A, but has put together some of his best stuff in the bigs so far. In the 13 different stops he’s made throughout the Rockies’ farm system since he first became a part of the organization back in 2017, his 3.32 ERA is his fourth-best number of his career, with the other three top numbers coming in very low-level leagues.

Out of his 16 performances so far for the league-worst Rockies, he has only had a ‘bad’ outing in which he allowed more than one earned run just two times, once against the Mets and once against the Padres, two teams that boast some of the deepest lineups lineups in the league. He allowed one earned run in just one other appearance against the Mets, and his other 13 outings have been as clean as can be.

Young talents like Mejia are what this Rockies organization needs to climb out of the depths of Major League Baseball. While it’s good that the veterans like Orlando Arcia are helping the team offensively, those guys only have so much shelf life and won’t be around for too long. With guys like Mejia, Ezequiel Tovar, Ryan Ritter and more, the young talent is there, they just need the reps to get some big league experience under their belt to build more confidence and get used to what makes the MLB the best baseball league in the world.