MIAMI -- Best. Birthday. Ever.
Marlins No. 21 prospect Victor Mesa Jr. got more than balloons adorning his locker and a serenade from fans for his 24th birthday.
With the Marlins trailing by 10 in the eighth inning of Monday night’s 15-7 loss to the Nationals at loanDepot park, the left-handed-hitting Mesa deposited southpaw Shinnosuke Ogasawara’s hanging slider into the second deck in right field for a three-run homer.
Mesa became the 15th player in franchise history to go deep on his birthday, and the first to do so for his first home run. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he is the seventh player in the Wild Card Era (since 1995) to hit his first career homer on his birthday, joining:
- Stephen Cardullo (Aug. 31, 2016)
- Charlie Blackmon (July 1, 2011)
- Ángel Pagán (July 2, 2006)
- Randy Wolf (Aug. 22, 2002)
- Eric Munson (Oct. 3, 2001)
- Chris Snopek (Sept. 20, 1995)
“Since I got to this country, I've been working,” said Mesa, who added a double on Monday. “I've been playing, playing and playing, always on my birthday, and I've been kind of far. And this is the first one that I'm here with my kid, my wife, family around, and I couldn't ask for a better one. And I'm so grateful for that.”
The ball would bounce off the seats and down onto the field, where right fielder Dylan Crews unknowingly threw it to a fan. When Mesa took his position in right for the top of the ninth, he and the fan quickly conversed from afar. Turns out it was also the fan’s daughter’s birthday.
“I gave her a ball and a bat,” Mesa said. “Obviously, that's the least that I can do to get my ball back. I saw that he got the ball and I was running to right field. ‘Hey, I want the ball.’ ‘Yeah, I'll give it to you after the game.’ And they were a pretty nice family. I saw them after and it was pretty good to see them. Grateful for them to give it to me and come here.”
This milestone was a long time coming for Mesa, who was born in Havana, Cuba, but became a U.S. citizen in February 2024. In October 2018, he and his older brother, Victor Victor, signed with the Marlins for $1 million and $5.25 million, respectively, after defecting. Victor Victor was MLB Pipeline’s top international prospect, but his younger sibling is the one to reach The Show and remain in professional baseball.
Mesa’s Major League debut came on May 26 in San Diego, where he entered late as a defensive replacement. It likely would’ve happened sooner for him had it not been for injuries over each of the past two seasons. Mesa would go on to play in three more games before being optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville.
The Marlins recalled Mesa on Aug. 31 as the corresponding roster move for Dane Myers, who landed on the 10-day injured list. After going 1-for-7 in that brief stint in May, Mesa is 4-for-14 (.286) with three runs, one double, one homer, two walks, three strikeouts and three RBIs in seven games. Monday’s series opener marked his fourth start since his return, which includes three of Miami’s last four contests.
Mesa credited the hitting staff on his adjustments. Around three days ago, hitting coach Pedro Guerrero recommended Mesa put his hands a little bit higher to help his load and stride to the ball.
“I think you do [see more comfort],” manager Clayton McCullough said. “You see the first time, the initial first few games, someone comes up, there's so much emotion. Your feet are off the ground, most of it. Whether you stay up here and you just get more games and more settled in, or as in both those cases you mentioned [along with Maximo Acosta], you go down for a little bit and step back away from it and when you come back, a lot of the newness is gone, the stadiums and just the coming here, the day to day. And hopefully guys can just kind of relax and just go play and show what they're capable of doing.”