Biography

BIOGRAPHY

Dakota Mekkes was born November 6, 1994, in Jenison, Michigan. He is a pitcher in the MLB.

Mekkes attended Jenison High School in Jenison, Michigan. As a senior in 2013, he was 6-1 with a 2.28 ERA and 73 strikeouts. He went undrafted out of high school in the 2013 MLB draft and enrolled at Michigan State University where he played college baseball. He redshirted his 2014 freshman season and pitched only 12 innings as a redshirt freshman in 2015, but broke out as a redshirt sophomore in 2016, going 3-2 with a 1.74 ERA in 57 relief innings, striking out 96. After the season, he was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 10th round of the 2016 Major League Baseball draft.

Mekkes signed and spent his first professional season with the Arizona League Cubs and Eugene Emeralds, pitching to a combined 1-1 record and a 1.80 ERA in 20 relief innings pitched between both teams. He pitched 2017 with the South Bend Cubs and Myrtle Beach Pelicans, going 8-2 with a 0.98 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP in 42 total relief appearances, and started 2018 with Tennessee Smokies, with whom he was named a Southern League All-Star before being promoted to the Iowa Cubs. In 41 relief appearances between the two clubs, he was 4-0 with a 1.17 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP.

Mekkes returned to Iowa for the 2019 season, compiling a 4-2 record with a 5.29 ERA and 61 strikeouts over 49+1⁄3 relief innings.