HOOVER, Ala. – Third-year Florida International head coach Mervyl Melendez arrived at the lower quad at the Hoover Met Sports Complex on Thursday clad in FIU attire and blending in seamlessly with the dozens of other college coaches and recruiters in attendance at the Perfect Game Junior National Showcase.
The one thing that set Melendez apart from the other coaches/recruiters was the cap he was wearing. It didn’t figuratively say “D-I Baseball Coach” but was instead much more succinct. It read, also figuratively, “PG Dad”.
Jayden Melendez is a top 2021 catching prospect who also happens to be Mervyl’s youngest son. Jayden, not surprisingly an FIU commit, came into the PG Jr. National as the No. 21-ranked overall prospect (No. 2 catcher) in his class, and was the real reason why Mervyl was here Thursday and returned on Friday.
And this is not the father’s first go-around at a Jr. National. Jayden was at this event a year ago in Emerson, Ga., and before that, Mervyl’s oldest son, 2016 PG All-American catcher Mervyl "MJ" Melendez, was at the 2015 Jr. National in Fort Myers, Fla.
So, Coach Melendez, is wearing the Dad cap a little less stressful than wearing the Coach/Recruiter cap? Is it possible to wear both simultaneously?
“I think watching your own son is more nerve-racking than anything else,” Mervyl told PG. “Nevertheless, you’re happy that he is talented enough to be able to be in a national showcase and get exposed to so many scouts and coaches and, of course, the PG staff, and go through the process. As a coach, you love it; as a parent, you live a little bit on the edge.”
That’s a sentiment every parent can relate to, even those who are not coaches. But the fact of the matter is, Jayden Melendez comes across as a pretty low maintenance, and easy-going, well-spoken teenager who smiles easily and is brimming with enthusiasm for the game. He is certainly happy to be doing the PG Jr. National twofer after earning Top Prospect List recognition at the event in 2018.
“The talent out here that I’m surrounded with, that’s just something that I want to be a part of,” Jayden told PG. “I get to meet new people that want to do the same thing that I want to do in the future. So with the talent and just having new people around me with the same goals is the biggest reason why I want to keep coming to events like this.”
Jayden is a 5-foot-9, 160-pound ballplayer who fits in nicely with the top 2021s and 2022s who are in attendance here. And a lot of his humble self-confidence is a result of his background and influence his father, his brother and quite a few others have on him through the years.
Baseball has been a part of Jayden Melendez’s life on a 24-7 basis for as long as he can remember. He wasn’t all that enamored with the game as very young child but that changed quickly as he got older; now he’s 100 percent on board.
“Honestly, you’ve just got to love the game,” he said. “Being surrounded by it for so many years I think that’s really had an impact on me enjoying the game and loving the game.”
Mervyl has been the head coach at FIU since the 2017 season. He accepted the position after previously coaching at Bethune-Cookman for 12 years, followed by five years at Alabama State. MJ Melendez was an alumnus of 28 PG events, including the 2015 PG Jr. National, 2016 PG National and 2016 PG All-American Classic. He was a second-round draft pick of the Royals in 2017 and is currently at High-A Wilmington in the Carolina League.
“I have to give a lot of credit to my dad and my brother for being a part of my baseball career and having an impact on me,” Jayden said. “Perfect Game has also had a huge impact on getting me the exposure that I appreciate, and I think in the future Perfect Game will always have my appreciation wherever my baseball career takes me.”
Mervyl said that Jayden is different from MJ in that the younger brother is much more loose. The talent is very similar, but Jayden does not stress over certain situations and he doesn’t put too much pressure on himself. A lot of the things that he’s done in the past has shown his dad that he takes everything with grace and with a smile on his face.
“It is a little easier this time, but not much,” Mervyl said of doing the showcase circuit with his two sons. “You still want the best for each one of them, and (Jayden) is independent of his brother. But it is easier because you know what to expect. And when we were coming to this showcase his brother was actually talking to him about what he needs to do and how he needs to do it.”
MJ Melendez always wanted to be a catcher, so deciding to take on one the most challenging position in baseball was something he dived into on his own. Jayden Melendez, on the other hand, started out as an infielder and switched to catcher simply because that’s the position his older brother plays.
“Now that he knows how demanding it is, he might look back and say let me play infield, it’s a little bit easier,” Mervyl said with a laugh. “But he enjoys it, he does pretty well, and it’s something that is now a passion of his where at the beginning he did it because he wanted to follow in his brother’s footsteps.”
Four years separate 20-year old MJ and 16-year-old Jayden, but they’ve always been close. Older brother makes a point of returning to the Miami area during the offseason to work with younger brother on all things baseball, with an emphasis on hitting and catching.
Jayden told PG that MJ tells him that he wants Jayden to be a better player than him one day, but Jayden isn’t necessarily buying it. He does admit, however, that they are always in an unspoken competition to see who ends up being the “better Melendez” but “as a brother he’s a real good mentor to me and I look up to him in so many different ways.”
Jayden just completed his sophomore year at Westminster Christian High School in Miami, the school that has won double-digit Florida state championships through the years, and the same school that MJ graduated from.
Westminster Christian is also the alma mater of Alex Rodriguez (aka A-Rod), and Melendez said his presence can still be felt around the school. There are people who embrace his legacy, of course, but due to the competitiveness of the players that have come after him, most go out intending to make a name for themselves.
“It’s definitely a different high school program, in my opinion,” Jayden said. “You have people who want to win state championships, of course, and the environment around Westminster is amazing. It’s a Christian-driven school … and with baseball, being pushed by the talent that we have at Westminster has really had an impact on me.”
In addition to playing for Westminster, the Melendez’s also have a long association with the FTB organization. Mervyl is a longtime friend of program founder George Gonzalez and watched Jered Goodwin coach MJ before bringing Goodwin on as an assistant coach at FIU a couple of years ago; Goodwin is now the PG National Scouting Director and is here this weekend.
He also knows longtime Florida high school coach Alan Kunkel very well. Kunkel is now coaching Jayden with FTB and is also helping out at the Jr. National this weekend. Mervyl told PG that having FTB as part of the extended Melendez family has been a “blessing” and he’s sure the program will continue to impact other families for years to come.
Jayden shares his dad’s thoughts: “FTB has always been close to my heart; close to our family’s heart,” he said. “We’ve always had good relations with them, and with both me and MJ they’ve gotten us the exposure that we need to get. … They’ve been nothing but good, and we’ve been blessed to have them.”
Jayden Melendez’s baseball influences actually reach back another generation to his granddad, Gamaliel Melendez, who lives in Puerto Rico. Gamaliel is Meryl’s father and Mervyl takes a lot of pride in the generational.
“My dad got me into baseball; he coached me when I was little,” Mervyl said. “My dad is still very involved, just watching baseball and supporting me and my career, supporting MJ and now supporting Jayden. He’s one that cares, he’s one that even if he’s not here, he’ll call and ask how (Jayden) is doing.”
Since this is Jayden’s second go-around at the PG Jr. National – and his 25th PG event overall – there wasn’t really all that much talk between father and son about expectations. Mervyl simply told him to make sure he does everything to the fullest of his potential, show a lot of energy and passion towards the game, and, finally, just enjoy it. Have fun with the entire process because if he puts too much pressure on himself he won’t perform at the optimum level.
“This is just another time for him to enjoy the game, another time that he gets to relax and do his thing,” Mervyl said. “It’s important to relax because if you don’t you’ll tighten-up and tense-up, and just enjoy being one of the better players in your age group and continue to strive to be better than what you are today.” Spoken like a man who wears his “Dad” cap proudly.