Alex Meyer

[markos]

Name: Alex Meyer

Position: SP

Height: 6'9"

Weight: 220

Bats: Right

Throws: Right

High School: Greensburg, IN

College: University of Kentucky

 

Drafted with the 23rd overall pick by the Washington Nationals in the 2011 Draft.

Acquired by the Twins from the Nationals in exchange for Denard Span on November 29, 2012

 

More information at Baseball Reference: Alex Meyer Minor League Statistics & History - Baseball-Reference.com

 

Meyer signed too late after the 2011 draft to pitch in the season, so he started his professional career as a 22-year-old in low-A. He started 18 games there, and he showed the ability to miss bats while having decent control, averaging 9.7 SO/9 and 3.09 SO/BB. He was promoted to high-A for the final 7 games of the season, and continued his good performance: 10.7 SO/9 and 3.15 SO/BB. Overall, he pitched 129 innings between the two levels, with an ERA under 3.00 and a .211 batting average against.

 

During the offseason, Meyer was featured on several top-100 prospect lists:

#40 MLB.com

#59 Baseball America

#61 ESPN

#63 Minor League Ball

#78 Fangraphs

#88 Baseball Prospectus

Within the Twins organization he has battled with Kyle Gibson for title of best pitching prospect, and has been ranked as anywhere from the Twins's 3rd to 6th best prospect.

 

This year, as a 23-year-old, he has been assigned to AA with the New Britain Rock Cats. He has started 2 games so far this year, pitching 10 innings with 14 strikeouts and just 3 walks.

 

I was able to travel to Richmond to see his first start, and you can find my writeup about the game here: Alex Meyer's Rock Cats Debut - Twinkie Town

[markos]

Alex Meyer started a game this past Thursday against the Portland Sea Dogs, the AA affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. He pitched 6 very effective innings, with the following line:

6 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 4 BB, 5 SO

Overall, these are Meyer's stats for the season:

16 IP, 3 ER, 13 H, 7 BB, 19 SO

Notes:

- The Sea Dogs lineup included Xander Bogaerts, Boston's consensus top prospect, and a top-10 prospect in all of baseball. Bogaerts had the only hit against Meyer, with his hit a ground-ball to shortstop. He also lined out to shortstop and grounded out to third.

- Other than the line out to shortstop, every other ball-in-play was a ground ball.

[minn55441]

Alex Meyer started a game this past Thursday against the Portland Sea Dogs, the AA affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. He pitched 6 very effective innings, with the following line:

6 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 4 BB, 5 SO

Overall, these are Meyer's stats for the season:

16 IP, 3 ER, 13 H, 7 BB, 19 SO

Notes:

- The Sea Dogs lineup included Xander Bogaerts, Boston's consensus top prospect, and a top-10 prospect in all of baseball. Bogaerts had the only hit against Meyer, with his hit a ground-ball to shortstop. He also lined out to shortstop and grounded out to third.

- Other than the line out to shortstop, every other ball-in-play was a ground ball.

 

thanks for the update. Great to hear he is doing well.

[markos]

Alex Meyer pitched this morning for New Britain against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the AA affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. He again pitched 6 innings, needing 95 pitches (61 strikes). He scattered 8 hits and 1 walk, giving up 1 run. He had 7 strikeouts. Obviously, it would be nice if he could have had given up fewer hits, but it was nice see him control the strike zone with only the 1 walk.

Notes:

- The Blue Jays traded away much of their farm system this past offseason in trades with Marlins and the Mets. Their AA team in particular is very week, with only a couple of players who could be considered even marginal prospects.

 

Meyer's season stats:

22 IP, 4 ER, 21 H, 8 BB, 26 SO

[markos]

A brief mention in the Star Tribune yesterday about Meyer:

Twins minor league report: Top prospect Meyer practices getting out of a jam | StarTribune.com

[cmb0252]

A) Awesome adopt a player thread. You have a ton of good info here. Definitely went above and beyond. In Jim Callis' weekly chat he answered this question about Mr.Meyers;

 

What kind of timeline is Alex Meyer on to the majors? Also, has Trevor May looked more like he could be a good starter in the bigs, or do you envision reliever?

Jim Callis: Meyer: Arbitration considerations may delay him, but could see him up after the break. May is a reliever for me–don’t trust the control or command.

[markos]

Alex Meyer pitched this past Tuesday on the last day of April against the Harrisburg Senators, the AA affiliate of the Washington Nationals. This was his worst start of the season, giving up 4 runs in 6 innings, with all the runs coming in the 3rd. Rather than my own commentary on the game, I strongly recommend reading the write-up from Twins Fan From Afar, who was at the game. It is an awesome article, so please read and enjoy.

Notes:

- The Nationals AA team has a decent lineup, with one major prospect (Brian Goodwin), several minor ("C") prospects, as well as a handful of replacement-level major leaguers (including former Twin Erik Komatsu). However, they have yet to hit well this season, and are one of the worse offensive teams in the Eastern League.

- Another good article to read about Meyer and his knuckle-curve ball.

 

Meyer's season stats:

28 IP, 8 ER, 26 H, 11 BB, 34 SO, 0 HR

2.57 ERA, 2.06 FIP, 1.32 WHIP

10.93 K/9, 3.54 BB/9

[markos]

Alex Meyer started his 6th game of the season on Sunday, and he once again had a decent start ruined by one bad inning. In this instance, Meyer was unable to get out of the 5th inning, giving up 5 runs in the frame. The inning went like this:

walk

single

single - 1 run scored

walk

pop out

strike out

single - 3 runs scored

double - 1 run scored

pitching change

 

One of the runs ended up being unearned, but still, much of the damage was self-inflicted with the two walks. It is disappointed to see that he was very close to limiting the damage of that inning, but then ended up giving up 4 of the runs with two outs.

 

Notes:

- This is the 3rd time in the young season that Meyer has started against the Portland Sea Dogs. Not sure if that contributed to his struggles, but they may have made adjustments against him.

 

Meyer's season stats (in 6 starts):

32.2 IP, 12 ER, 31 H, 14 BB, 40 SO, 0 HR

3.31 ERA, 2.13 FIP, 1.38 WHIP

11.02 K/9, 3.86 BB/9

[markos]

Alex Meyer had his 7th start of the season on Saturday, and he ended up facing the Portland Sea Dogs for the fourth time this season. Though not as bad as his previous start, Meyer did struggle again, giving up 4 runs (3 earned) in 5 1/3 innings. He did strike out 7 batters, but gave up 7 hits and 4 walks.

 

Meyer's season stats are creeping in the wrong direction.

(in 7 starts):

38.0 IP, 15 ER, 38 H, 18 BB, 47 SO, 0 HR

3.55 ERA, 2.22 FIP 1.474 WHIP

11.1 K/9, 4.3 BB/9

 

For anyone interested, here are the season stats for the other New Britain starter, Trevor May (also in 7 starts):

39.1 IP, 14 ER, 30 H, 19 BB, 37 SO, 3 HR

3.20 ERA, 3.99 FIP 1.246 WHIP

8.5 K/9, 4.3 BB/9

[markos]

Meyer started his 8th game of the year on Friday night. He improved from his previous two starts, as he only gave up 2 runs in 5.1 innings. More importantly, he did not walk a single hitter and only allowed 5 hits. However, one of the hits was a home run - his first home run allowed this season. Here is a recap of the game: The New Britain Herald : New Britain, Conn., and surrounding areas (newbritainherald.com)

 

Meyer's season stats (in 8 starts):

43.0 IP, 17 ER, 43 H, 18 BB, 51 SO, 1 HR

3.56 ERA, 2.46 FIP 1.42 WHIP

10.67 K/9, 3.77 BB/9

[markos]

Meyer pitched again on Wednesday, and I know I'm beginning to sounds like a broken record, but he again pitched well except for "one bad inning". This time, his "one bad inning" was the 4th, where he gave up 4 runs on 4 singles and a walk. He wasn't helped by a fielding error that prolonged the inning, so not all the runs were earned. At the end of the night, he faced 30 batters over 6 2/3 innings, giving up 6 hits and 3 walks to go along with 7 strikeouts.

 

On the plus side, this was the deepest into a game Meyer has pitched so far this season, as well as the most batters faced.

 

Meyer's season stats (in 9 starts):

49.2.0 IP, 20 ER, 49 H, 21 BB, 58 SO, 1 HR

3.62 ERA, 2.46 FIP 1.41 WHIP

10.51 K/9, 3.81 BB/9

 

One interesting tid-bit pointed out in another thread, Meyer is currently 5th in all of AA in Fielding Independent Pitching: http://www.fangraphs.com/minorleaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=5,6,7&qual=y&type=1&season=2013&team=0&players=0

[markos]

There is a recently posted scouting report from Baseball Prospectus. Unfortunately, subscription is required; however, here is a snippet from the summary:

 

Overall, project Meyer as an eighth-inning reliever, with a closer’s ceiling. The pitcher has a more-than-capable fastball and slider combination for getting batters out at the highest level in short bursts. He can be consistently overpowering out of the bullpen, with the fastball likely to play up into the high-90s and the slider trouble for hitters when behind in the count. Meyer does not have a deep enough arsenal as constructed to start at the big-league level. I don’t presently see it even in a short-term capacity to see if he can stick. Of concern are Meyer’s command and bouts with wildness.

 

This report mirrors fairly closely some of the feedback given by members who have seen Meyer this season, though it is rather disappointing to see him dismiss Meyer's potential as a starter.

[30whales]

I will be very disappointed if Meyer's doesn't end up as a starter. You don't trade a good centerfielder for a possible set-up man or closer.

[jorgenswest]

I will be very disappointed if Meyer's doesn't end up as a starter. You don't trade a good centerfielder for a possible set-up man or closer.

 

I will share the disappointment.

 

I do understand that we traded for a guy whose ceiling is top of the rotation starter and floor is late inning reliever. You can't get a guaranteed top of the rotation starter for a good center fielder. They needed to take the risk in order to get the upside. No matter how it turns out, it was worth the risk.

 

I would prefer they take the risk rather than get a young pitcher with a possible ceiling of mid rotation starter that is ready for the majors. That guy is Vance Worley. With May a good return for Revere, but neither has the upside of Meyer.

[Pius Jefferson]

My first question is what's the history of accuracy with scouting reports from Baseball Prospectus?

[robbie111]

Maybe Cueller can teach him a to throw a real nice changeup when he moves up to AAA. He probably just needs one more pitch and he will be successful as a starter.

[Pius Jefferson]

Perhaps we got our hopes up that a 29 year old CF with a career OPS+ of 102 was going to bring back a top of the rotation starter.

[30whales]

What is everybody's opinion on Jason Parks as a scout? I really enjoy listening to his podcast Fringe Average and enjoyed Up and In so I feel like I trust his opinion but I don't know his track record on correctly scouting prospects. I ask this because I know he is one who says he thinks that Meyer will end up as a late-inning bullpen guy. Thanks.

[markos]

What is everybody's opinion on Jason Parks as a scout? I really enjoy listening to his podcast Fringe Average and enjoyed Up and In so I feel like I trust his opinion but I don't know his track record on correctly scouting prospects. I ask this because I know he is one who says he thinks that Meyer will end up as a late-inning bullpen guy. Thanks.

 

The actual report was filed by Chris Mellen, who is a recent addition to BP. I've tried to dig up some older reports to get a feeling for his style, but I didn't have much luck. He appears to have been a scout for a Red Sox prospect blog prior to working for BP.

[30whales]

The actual report was filed by Chris Mellen, who is a recent addition to BP. I've tried to dig up some older reports to get a feeling for his style, but I didn't have much luck. He appears to have been a scout for a Red Sox prospect blog prior to working for BP.

 

I asked a question previously on a Jason Parks chat what he thought of Alex Meyer and he responded by saying something about how he saw him as a late-inning reliever so that is what I was referring to.

[markos]

I asked a question previously on a Jason Parks chat what he thought of Alex Meyer and he responded by saying something about how he saw him as a late-inning reliever so that is what I was referring to.

 

Thanks for the clarification. Feel free add any info you hear/read about Meyer to this thread.

[markos]

Alex Meyer had his 10th start of the season on Memorial Day, and again put in a sub-par performance. He lasted only 5 innings and gave up 4 runs in those innings.

 

The good:

5 strikeouts in 5 innings.

Only 2 hits allowed.

 

The bad:

4 walks.

95 pitches in only 5 innings.

1 home run allowed.

 

The ugly:

Meyer started the game off with 3 straight walks, and allowed a run to score on a wild pitch. His ERA is creeping awfully close to 4.00, and his BB/9 is now over 4.

 

Season stats:

Meyer's season stats (in 10 starts):

44.2 IP, 24 ER, 51 H, 25 BB, 63 SO, 2 HR

3.95 ERA, 2.80 FIP 1.39 WHIP

10.4 K/9, 4.1 BB/9

 

 

[markos]

Mention of Meyer during Mike Newman's chat on Fangraphs:

 

[TABLE]

[TD=class: chat_time, bgcolor: #CECECE]12:51[/TD]

[TD=class: chat_desc, bgcolor: white]Comment From Dan

Alex Meyer’s numbers – go/ao, 2 HR allowed, 63K/54.2IP, are fairly eye popping. If he can get his BB rate down to a more acceptable level, are we looking at a potentially dominating pitcher?

 

[/TD]

[/TABLE]

[TABLE]

[TD=class: chat_time, bgcolor: #CECECE]12:53[/TD]

[TD=class: chat_desc, bgcolor: white]Mike Newman: The stuff is there for him to be a 2/3 starter, but command/control is always the question. It’s great to dream on pure stuff, but he still needs to refine some. One can’t say a pitcher will dominate until this happens.

[/TD]

[/TABLE]

[jokin]

Alex Meyer had his 10th start of the season on Memorial Day, and again put in a sub-par performance. He lasted only 5 innings and gave up 4 runs in those innings.

 

The good:

5 strikeouts in 5 innings.

Only 2 hits allowed.

 

The bad:

4 walks.

95 pitches in only 5 innings.

1 home run allowed.

 

The ugly:

Meyer started the game off with 3 straight walks, and allowed a run to score on a wild pitch. His ERA is creeping awfully close to 4.00, and his BB/9 is now over 4.

 

Season stats:

Meyer's season stats (in 10 starts):

44.2 IP, 24 ER, 51 H, 25 BB, 63 SO, 2 HR

3.95 ERA, 2.80 FIP 1.39 WHIP

10.4 K/9, 4.1 BB/9

 

 

 

This is a bit of an over-reaction bordering on needless panic.

 

In point of fact, he has actually pitched 54.2 innings, not 44.2. Further, his FIP still resides at 2.80- which is good for 5th in the Eastern League- his ridiculously good K/9 rate is also ranked 5th in the EL. And his current BABIP is very high relative to his career number (.325) , indicating a touch of bad luck and a somewhat porous New Britain defense- virtually bereft of ML prospects (Cats defense ranks 10th in the 12-team league). Are EL power hitters squaring up on him? No way, he has a very impressive HR/9 of 0.33- which ranks 4th in the EL.

 

It can only be said that he has had 3 poor outings in his 10 starts; let's be a little patient while he struggles at times, a 6'9" pitcher with his live arm is going to have growing pains.

[big dog]

Thanks, this is encouraging.

[markos]

As the calendar flipped over into June, Meyer had his best start of the season. Crediting a mechanical change, he dominated everyone in the Bowie Baysox lineup (well, everyone except Brandon Waring). Meyer pitched 6 1/3 innings, and punched out 10 Baysox batters, with only 2 walks and 2 hits allowed.

 

The great:

Meyer faced 22 batters and struck out 10 - 45% of the plate appearances ended in a K.

 

The good:

Only two walks and two hits allowed. (Both hits and a walk were to Brandon Waring)

 

The bad:

He allowed a home run, his 3rd of the season.

 

Season stats:

Meyer's season stats (in 11 starts):

61 IP, 25 ER, 53 H, 27 BB, 73 SO, 3 HR

3.69 ERA, 2.82 FIP 1.31 WHIP

10.77 K/9, 3.98 BB/9

 

Meyer's ranking in the Eastern League:

SO - 2nd (74)

K/9 - 2nd (10.77)

FIP - 4th (2.82)

K% - 6th (27.7%)

Batting Average Against - 8th (.225)

 

To expand on Jokin's comment about batters squaring up the ball against Meyer, I dug through the game logs and counted only 12 extra base hits against him so far this season, with the following breakdown:

2B - 8

3B - 1

HR - 3

Using this, I was able to determine that batters have the following triple-slash against Meyer:

.225/.307/.308

This gives them an OPS of about .615.

[markos]

Bad news for Alex Meyer.

 

According to Mike Berardino, Meyer has been put on the disabled list due to a sore shoulder. Hopefully it is nothing major and a few extra days of rest will be sufficient to get him back in good help. In addition, I'm sure the Twins are being extra cautious with one of their best pitching prospect. On the other hand, shoulder injuries are always scary, so there is plenty to worry about.

[markos]

As far as I have heard, there is no updates on when Meyer will be reactivated after his shoulder soreness. In a piece of good (and old) news, his MRI came back clean: Alex Meyer's MRI clean; 'I don't think anybody thought it was serious' - Minnesota Twins news | 1500 ESPN Twin Cities ? Minnesota Sports News & Opinion (Twins, Vikings, Wolves, Wild, Gophers) | Sportswire: Minnesota Twins If anyone has heard any updates on Meyer's injury, please post them.

 

In other news, many prospect following sites are going to be releasing updated top-100ish lists based on the first half of the season and the draft. The first updated version I've seen is from Baseball Prospectus: Baseball Prospectus | Prospects Will Break Your Heart: The Mid-Season Top 50 Prospects

 

#44 RHP Alex Meyer (Twins)

Placement on Pre-Season 101: #88

Current MiLB Level/Affiliate: Double-A New Britain

Prospect Trajectory: Up; most likely still an underrated prospect; questions about ultimate role add risk to a higher ranking; has no. 2 starter upside and a floor of a late-innings bullpen arm; strong second half and improved command could lead to huge offseason jump up the list.

Major League ETA: 2014

 

This is very interesting, as back in May another scout for this site released a report of Meyer that definitely seemed to suggest that Meyer was destined for the bullpen. This report seems to be much more bullish on Meyer staying in the rotation.

 

Overall, the Twins were well represented, with 3 on the top-50 list and 2 more in the 'just missed' list.

[Red Bull]

I keep looking at the Twins SP prospects and am now im thinking they dont really have as much as we thought we did. The top guys were Meyer, Gibson, Berrios and now Stewart. Meyer is super tall and could have alot of complications with that and now hes having injury problems, some are projecting him as a RP. Gibson is 25 and has had TJ so we have no clue how good hes gonna be, Gleeman and the Geek were compairing him to Diamond and Baker. I think thats ridiculous and his cieling is alot higher. Berrios is still in low A but hes been pretty good lately. Stewart still has to play before we can say anything. I just feel like we dont have as much as we thought we did. Stewart is the only potential Ace and I have heard he doesnt even profile as an ace. Idk what to think, cant wait to see Gibson pitch on SAT.

[markos]

There have been some discussion about Meyer's status, though there doesn't seem to be anything concrete about his return. This is a good summation from a separate Twins Daily article:

 

And yet, three weeks later, Meyer still has not pitched competitively. It doesn't look like he's especially close to doing so. Over the weekend, New Britain manager Jeff Smith had this to say about the righty: "Hopefully by the end of the season, really just later in the season, he'll be able to pitch in some games." Matt Straub, who covers the Rock Cats for the New Britain Herald, inferred that to mean Meyer would be out for at least the entire month of July.

 

It sounds like he is currently in Florida and may begin a throwing program soon.