“Come on,” he said and laughed. “Come on.”
Mey’s pitches weren’t the difference in the Dayton Dragons’ 3-2 victory over Fort Wayne, but they sure excited the crowd and the dugout. Mey, a 6-foot-2 right-hander from the Dominican Republic, relieved Johnathan Harmon in the fifth inning. He got the final two outs with 98 and 99 mph heaters.
In the sixth inning, Mey started hitting 100 to 102. He walked the first batter, popped up the next and walked the third. Then he got a strikeout looking. On the next batter his second strike to Nik McClaughry registered 103. But he walked McClaughry on his second 103 pitch to load the bases, and his night was over.
As Mey walked to the dugout the crowd cheered for him despite the walks. Because they will always remember the night they saw a guy throw 103.
“I’m pretty happy right now because I knew I could do it,” said Mey, who hit 104 a few months ago in a Venezuelan winter league game. “I just had to make it happen, and let’s see if I can do it again.”
Mey, unlike Greene, will get the chance. When Greene hit 102 it was his last pitch of the season. He left the mound that night in 2018 and didn’t pitch again until after Tommy John surgery to repair his elbow.
Some of the Dragons know what it is like to face Mey’s fastball.
“I have faced him in spring training, and it wasn’t a fun at-bat to say the least,” said Sal Stewart, one of the Dragons’ best hitters. “He’s a good dude, and I’m super happy it was him that did it.”
Logan Tanner has batted against Mey as well. But this time he was glad he was the catcher.
“There’s not many people in the world who can throw 103 miles an hour, so it’s cool to be able to catch one,” Tanner said.
Mey, 22, has not progressed quickly in the Reds’ system because of his propensity for walks. He pitched in the rookie league in 2019 and at Low-A Daytona from 2021-2023. In 108 1/3 innings he walked 85 and struck out 114.
“I’m working on that, so I just got to make it happen whenever I go to the mound.,” Mey said. “Sometimes it doesn’t work, but I’m gonna keep working on it.”
Mey didn’t allow a run to help protect the Dragons’ one-run lead.
“Mey’s been pitching late in games, and we wanted to get him in there early,” Dragons manager Vince Harrison said. “For me that was the most crucial point of the game.”
Mey was relieved by Brody Jessee to get the final out in the sixth. Jessee (2-0) completed three innings, allowed two hits and struck out eight.
“He’s been in those positions, and I think he’s comfortable and embracing that role a little bit,” Harrison said.
Brock Bell got the final out with a runner on for his first save because Harrison liked the matchup.
“It was a big confidence builder for our pitchers,” said Harrison, whose crew struck out 14.
The Dragons (6-5) gave the pitchers all the needed early. Hector Rodriguez hit a two-run single in the first inning and Stewart singled in a run in the second. Fort Wayne scored twice in the third against Harmon.
But the Dragons finished with only six hits and struck out 15 times.
“If you told me we were going to punch out 15 times and you still win the game, I’d probably put the damn mortgage on that,” Harrison said.
He credited Fort Wayne’s pitchers but also said his young hitters took too many strikes and lacked some focus after the early 3-0 lead. Even 19-year-old Cam Collier, the youngest Dragon, struck out twice and saw his nine-game hitting streak end.
“I’m not that smart,” Harrison said. “but one thing I said to our team is good teams find a way to win one-run games.”
Notes
Pitching injury: The Dragons placed right-handed reliever Tanner Cooper in the seven-day injured list with a hip flexor strain. Cooper has appeared in two games and allowed eight hits and four earned runs in 3 2/3 innings. Right-handed pitcher John Murphy was promoted to Dayton from the ACL Reds. Murphy pitched in 26 games for the Dragons in 2023 as a reliever, going 4-3 with a 4.89 ERA and four saves.
FRIDAY’S GAME
Fort Wayne at Dayton, 7:05 p.m., 980
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