Strawberry Compares Mejia To Mariano Rivera, Should It Bother Mets Fans?

In an article for mlb.com, Marty Noble documents Darryl Strawberry's reaction to seeing Jenrry Mejia throw, here. In the article Noble catches Strawberry gushing about the movement on Mejia's pitches. Strawberry is quoted as saying, "...did you see his ball move? Awesome. That ball cuts. It's natural, too...I honestly can say I've never seen anyone else throw a pitch like that except for Mariano."  Noble continues saying, "Strawberry turned to manager Jerry Manuel and asked, 'Do you know what you have there? I mean, do you realize who that is throwing out there? That's your next closer. That's your Mo Rivera.'"

In general I love hearing from Strawberry and Keith because I feel like these guys don't pull any punches because,in all honesty, they don't need to.  The idea that Strawberry was that excited about seeing Mejia just adds fuel to the fire that this kid has a rocket-arm.  So far, that's all we've been hearing about him, how great his arm is and how he could be great.

So, should Mets fans be upset Strawberry is putting more pressure on the kid by making this comparison?

I say absolutely not for a few reasons.

IT INSTALLS CONFIDENCE:

Yes, he's young and hearing this might cause him to start getting a little above himself ego wise.  But isn't that confidence the same thing Mets fans have hated about Chipper Jones all these years?  He's good and he know it.  Great.  I want to build him up, because baseball is a mental game and being confident is most of the battle.

BIG TIME PLAYERS CAN HANDLE HYPE:

If you can't handle expectations then you cannot handle pitching in New York.  So, to all those who call this a bad thing, I say can it.  If the kid cannot handle expectations, he should not be in the big leagues, or, one-step beyond that, he should not be playing in New York.  No one is concerned about Jason Heyward of Atlanta not producing because of lofty expectations.  For a second stop being Mets fans and realize that something good CAN happen to us.

So my point here is don't look into it too much, and just see it as a talented player giving a glowing review of a young talent. That cannot be a bad thing...