Jenrry Manuel Mejía (; born October 11, 1989) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Saraperos de Saltillo of the Mexican League. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets. Mejía signed with the Mets as an international free agent on April 4, 2007. He made his MLB debut in 2010 and was named the Mets' closer in May 2014. Mejía was suspended for the first 80 games of the 2015 season after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs (PED). He received his second suspension in July 2015 after a second failed test. He tested positive for a third time, which was reported in February 2016, resulting in his permanent suspension from MLB. He was the first player to receive a permanent suspension due to violating MLB's drug policy three times. Mejía later submitted an application for reinstatement, as allowed under MLB's drug policy, which was granted by Commissioner Rob Manfred in July 2018. Early life Mejía was born in Azua in the southwestern Dominican Republic. Growing up, Mejía lived with his parents and younger brother in a neighborhood called Herrera, near Santo Domingo's former airport of the same name. Starting at age 11, he made his living by shining shoes, earning about 300 pesos a day. When he was 15 years old, he started playing baseball, becoming interested in the sport once he realized that players were able to earn a large signing bonus. He drew some interest from several teams, including the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, but was not seen at that time as a top talent, because he was small and slight of build. He ultimately signed with the New York Mets for $16,500 in 2007, at the age of 17. Professional career Minor leagues In 2007, Mejía played for the DSL Mets. He recorded a 2–3 record with a 2.47 ERA 14 games (7 starts). The next year, Mejía pitched for the GCL Mets and the Brooklyn Cyclones. His combined statistics were a 5–2 record, with a 2.89 ERA in 14 starts. Mejía started the 2009 season pitching for the Single-A St. Lucie Mets. He was 4–1 with a 1.97 ERA. Then, he was promoted to Double-A Binghamton. There he posted a 0–5 record with a 4.47 ERA in 10 starts. He also missed seven weeks with a strained middle finger on his pitching hand. Mejía had a