Twins Video
The Minnesota Twins have announced that they will recall right-handed reliever Alex Meyer prior to Friday night's game vs. the Milwaukee Brewers. Meyer was Twins Daily's #5 Twins prospect before the 2015 season and this will be his first time with the big league club.
Meyer was acquired in a trade with the Washington Nationals for Denard Span in November of 2012. Armed with a 95+ mph fastball, he was considered a top starting pitching prospect and was moved up to Triple-A Rochester last year where he posted a 3.52 ERA and 153 strikeouts in 130.2 innings.
However, his 6' 9" frame has always contributed to control problems and he seemingly took a step backward this year, walking 24 batters in 39.1 innings pitched (along with a 7.09 ERA) as a starting pitcher, before he was moved to the bullpen. That move has seemingly paid off. Since that move, Meyer has posted a 0.53 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 17 innings pitched. Most tellingly, he has only walked six batters, nearly halving his walk rate as a starter.
Meyer's role in the Rochester Red Wing's bullpen was mostly as a long reliever; he pitched more than an inning in most of his appearances, including three appearances that were three innings or longer. His role in the Twins bullpen is less clear. He replaces Michael Tonkin, who served as more of a secondary right-handed setup man. It's possible that Meyer could take that role with the goal of moving towards a higher-leverage setup role in the future.
Or he could continue to work long relief. The Twins have not said if they now view his future role as a starter or reliever, and longer appearances would allow allow an easier transition back to a starting role later this year. However, given the Twins continued struggles with consistent success at the back of their bullpen, if Meyer succeeds, he'll likely stay in that role with the Twins for the rest of this year.







Recommended Comments
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now