I’m not surprised Jenrry Mejia has impressed everyone in the Mets’ Port St. Lucie, Fla., camp.

The 20-year-old Dominican right-hander is that good, knows how to pitch, takes the mound with an edge and has nasty fastball that acts like a cutter and sinks with the best of him.

Along with first baseman Ike Davis, catcher Josh Thole and outfielder Fernando Martinez, now healthy, he gives the Mets four solid prospects who soon could be contributing on the major-league level.

So much about the Mets farm system not having any prospects, but that is another story.

I just hope, and the first week of spring training can often be baseball “fool’s gold” at its finest, the Mets are not planning to rush Mejia. During the Tony Bernazard era too many young Mets prospects were rushed.

Catcher Francisco Pena, Tony’s son, may have been hurt as much as anyone by being rushed. He certainly was not prepared for what he faced in the full-season South Atlantic League at age 17. It didn’t help infielders Wilmer Flores and Greg Veloz, since traded to Washington, either

Indications gathered from Mets development people seem to point against rushing young players, which, as pointed out, has proven counter-productive.  There seems to be reason to rush Davis or Thole, so why push Mejia?

Mejia would best be served by starting the season at Double-A Binghamton. He hardly pitched in the Eastern League in 2009, going a misleading 0-5, 4.47 in 10 starts. His strikeout/walk ratio was 47-28 and EL batsmen hit .263 against him. A strained finger on his pitching hand limited him some.

Mejia’s fastball is his best pitch. No doubt he could get some big-league hitters out with it, but his other pitches, especially his slider, need a lot of work.  His changeup is also a pitch that is in the development phase.

Scouts will tell you Mejia’s command and control also needs work. This is nothing shocking, as he is only 20 and has thrown just 44 innings above Class A. EL hitters caught on to a lot of his act in 2009 and he found the going a bit challenging.

Double-A represents a hurdle to many prospects, both position players and pitchers.  Some, like Detroit’s Justin Verlander or San Francisco’s Madison Bumgarner prove to be men among boys and dominate the Eastern League.

Mejia showed an excellent fastball and additional outstanding raw stuff in the EL in 2009. However, he certainly didn’t dominate in the manner of Verlander or Bumgarner. He needs to get over that Double-A hurdle.

Maybe Mejia will do just that by Memorial Day. Maybe before in four or five starts. Then, can he do the same at Triple-A Buffalo before settling into the majors.

Until Mejia improves his command and control, not only with his fastball, but also with his slider and changeup, he is not ready for the big leagues. Given Mejia is a determined sort, he may have all this accomplished by mid-season.

That said, rushing him to the majors to start 2010 will serve no useful purpose.

Tags: Binghamton Mets, Eastern League, Francisco Pena, Ike Davis, Jenrry Mejia, Josh Thole, Justin Verlander, Madison Bumgarner, New York Mets