Mejia embraces new pitching philosophy, K's 5 of 6 in relief 

DENVER – It’s all about trust for Rockies righty reliever Juan Mejia.

“No matter when bad things are happening, I know bigger things are coming,” Mejia said, with Edwin Perez interpreting.

A strong rookie performance last year and an eye-popping run with the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic have fueled big expectations, but his start to the regular season has been spotty. However, on Monday he struck out five of the six batters he faced in clean seventh and eighth innings of the Rockies’ 4-2 loss to the Mets at Coors Field.

Last year, Mejia debuted with a 3.96 ERA in 55 appearances, with 68 strikeouts in 61 1/3 innings. He did it with 721 fastballs, 352 sweepers and one changeup. This year, Mejia, 25, bought into the philosophy of new pitching coach Alon Leichman, assistant pitching coach Gabe Ribas and bullpen coach Matt Buschmann that he needed to diversify his mix for continued success.

The road to maturity has included growing pains. Mejia’s three losses going into Monday were tied for most among MLB relievers.

But Monday showed what he can become.

Of his 23 pitches, just five were four-seamers. He threw 10 sinkers, generating three called strikes and two swings and misses, including the putaway to eight-inning leadoff man Marcus Semien. The mix also included seven sweepers (two called strikes, two whiffs) and one changeup.

“Today, he mixed well and threw the fastball for strikes, and also he put guys away better with his off-speed,” Leichman said.

Mejia, whose fastball rate before Monday was 47.1% after 67.1% last year, counts a cutter among his pitches.

“It’s a big change, because last year I had two pitches,” Mejia said. “The hitters knew what they were expecting to face, so this year, I’ve been implementing more pitches, because I’m trying to change the view of the batter – change the way they are looking at me, confuse them.”

Mejia has had to maintain trust in the plan after hiccups with the fastball. The opponents' batting average on the four-seamer went from .219 last year to .371 going into Monday.

“I have conversations with the pitching coaches about that element,” Mejia said. “They told me that hitters are having success because they are up there looking for the fastball, because they know my secondary pitches are very effective. They’re nasty, hard on the hitter. And it’s not exactly an easy fastball to hit.”

Manager Warren Schaeffer said, “I don’t think he’s been throwing the ball like he wants to recently. It was great to see him back. That’s what Juan does."

Monday’s pitch mix, with the four-seamer thrown at a lower frequency than his already-lowered rate this season, could give hitters doubt that they'll receive one.

Mejia realizes he is the one who can’t have doubt.

“I have conversations with God before games and before outings, and I know I have to have faith to have a good outing,” he said.