Will Alex Meyer Pitch in the Majors This Year?

I think the problem with the walks is that it isn't going to show up as an extra walk every other game.  At 4.4 BB/9, he's walking a guy every other inning on average, for one... But more importantly, it will show up when his control isn't as sharp, at which point he doesn't make it out of the 3rd inning.  As it is, major league hitters are going to lay off those pitches more, which is going to tax the pen and shorten his starts.  This is why I think it would be great for him to pitch out of the pen in September. 

The point was the difference between 4.4 BB per 9 and 3.5 BB per 9 (where we would not be having this conversation), is about 1-1.2 walks every other start.

As has been outlined before, Meyer's pitches per inning are about on par with Pino, Darnell, and May. Should we really be worried about taxing the bullpen with our record?  Should that be altering any decisions?

Why couldn't he pitch out of the pen now, when he isn't up against any innings limit and his arm is presumably fresher?

 

I just don't get why he needs another 30 IP in AAA right now, on top of the 112 IP he's already logged at that level this year, as opposed to some similar number in MLB, in advance of the 2015 season where he can hopefully contribute from day 1.

 

Somehow, the reasoning always comes back to:

- he's not a fully finished product (rookies never are)

- he might struggle in his first taste of MLB (duh)

- we should wait until September (why?)

- it might tax the bullpen (we have tons of bullpen options)

- Correia's still on the roster (who cares?)

- it would use an option year (factually incorrect)

- we can control him until age 32 if we keep him down until May 2015 (depressing)

 

None of which is particularly compelling to me.

I don't disagree with any of your points on why he should be called up but the bullpen is not the place for him.  Meyer is a 6'9" guy that struggles to consistently get his body to follow the same motion, has warmed up the same way, had the same approach to a game and pitched multiple innings at a time as a starter for his entire life and whose future is in the rotation.  Moving him to a pen role for a month where he will be forced to warm up several times a game, will never actually know when or if he'll pitch, put different stresses on his shoulder seems like a very poor strategy.  If you want him up then put him in the rotation.  Otherwise you're taking up a roster spot that could actually be used on a reliever that might actually be a reliever next season at the same time you're messing with your future ace's psyche and health. 

Oxtung you have a point, but you are also missing the premise. If innings is the issue, the bullpen is the best place to manage him. He can still have a similar routine, he just isn't going to start games, just come in relief. Plus, what is his limit 150? So he could theoretically come up and start... then get sent to the pen to close out the year or shut down.

The premise is Meyer needs MLB innings to continue his development. He needs to face MLB hitters. He needs to struggle. He needs to be put in a situation that the start of 2015 he can take off running. The same goes for May. This organization has trouble convincing itself to start the season with rookies... yet they let these two guys spend the entire year in AAA without even a cup of coffee. Its maddening. 

I am not a fan of how the Front office is managing this.  For the first time since the early 2000's this team FINALLY, has multiple high end starting pitching talents on the horizon.  Yet at the same time they are busy wasting time evaluating Darnell, Pino and Johnson. 

While I understand the need to evaluate all talents and leave no stone unturned, Ma and Meyer are both pushing 25 years old.   While I understand the angst with Meyer who needs further refinement, May should have been promoted by now, no excuses.  Both these guys are premium talents and should trump any of the AAAA talent we have been optioning back and forth to Rochester. 

What' complicated the issue even more is the acquisition of Tommy Milone (a soft tossing lefty).  Either he takes the place of Darnell or pushes Meyer and May down one slot further.  Honestly, I think it's time for several DFA's and offseason releases.      

 The Twins no they have a winner, I don't see a need for Fall audition

 

 

Just because he is a good pitcher doesn't mean he would not beneift from a fall audition. He should make the 2015 team either way, but don't we wan't Meyer to be the best pitcher he could be and keep improving?  it seems like that should be a priority, over evaluating our 38th, 39th, or 40th person on our 40 man next year or figuring out right now who has the inside track on the #5 starter role next year or who will be 1st or 2nd in line next year.   These are not decisions that impact the long term health of the organization.  Our handling of Meyer could.

I would be shocked to see Meyer up before rosters expand.

It might help sell a few more tickets if the Twins announced that Meyer would be starting a game or two... I think that might keep them from stashing him in the bullpen. 

Meyer has to be brought up and it should just be in the bullpen to keep him facing major league hitters for the duration of the season. I don't understand what is difficult about this. Swarzak and Burton need to go away anyway.

Next year's rotation should be Hughes, Gibson, Meyer, Nolasco, May with Milone involved somehow (or traded).

So if the Twins don't bring Meyer up this year, what is to say they won't be motivated to not bring him up until july of 2015?  The same playing time, super 2, arbitration, and control arguments fit every year. I guess Will Middlebrooks should be the Twins GM.  Then it would happen. 

I can't disagree that is a risk.  Some minor injury to his arm, shoulder, knee, whatever is now an excuse to hold him back until next years deadline.

Is it really a shoe in that he makes the team in April?  Pelfrey will be back and he really battles his tail off, a real veteran out there....

Rotation in 2015 should be Meyer, May, Hughes, Gibson and Milone with Nolasco involved somehow (or traded).    Milone has a lifetime 3.84 ERA and a current year ERA of 3.55 in the American League.  Nolasco has a 4.49 career ERA in the National League and current year ERA of 5.9.    Milone is a lefty with slow stuff that would play very well before or after Meyer in the rotation.   Twins could eat a lot of salary in Pelfrey and Nolasco but who really cares.   They were mainly insurance against Meyer and May flopping.     Payroll is going to be low even with those salaries because the young guys don't make the really big bucks.

Auditions should be for Meyer May and Milone.  We pretty much already know Johnson, Darnell and Pino can be rotation fillers much like we know they won't be front end guys.  

is it really the same, though?

 

There seems to be something significantly different about 2nd and 3rd times through the line-up from the 1st.  Unless you're thinking of him as a reliever, it seems to me that he really wouldn't get "the experience" from short starts.

maybe, maybe not, He will be close to his innings pitched and there is being able to come up and face live major league hitters. It m not be enough for him to gain situational experience, but he can get the initial experience of being up out of the way. 

Alex Meyer will never pitch in Minnesota becasue TR and the rest in the front office are worried about "consistency" and a bunch of other junk that doesn't matter. Meyer is 25, he knows how to pitch, Bring him up. What's the advantage to letting him continue to throw innings in AAA? We know he can do that. Can he do it at the MLB level? It's time to find out.

The way Meyer and May are being handled is also just a prelude to how Stewart, Berrios, etc. will also be handled.   Is it a prudent course of action for any MLB franchise and which other team is handling their young pitchers in such a manner?   I am not attempting to be snarky here, I sincerely want to know.   I posit that the Twins should be treating their young pitching prospects exactly like the MLB team that is most successful at it.   Sure seems like the way to go for me, how about the rest of you?

I don't know of a single franchise that would still have Meyer down in AAA.  Some would maybe start him in the pen, others in the rotation.  Some would have brought him up before the super 2 deadline because they don't care.  Most would have brought him up right after.  But I truly believe every other franchise would conclude he has nothing to prove and they would want to futher his development by testing him up here.

First of all, almost everyone advocating for him to be promoted now is not suggesting a bullpen role.  That's the compromise position with those who are resisting him starting in MLB right now.

 

Secondly, if the primary criteria is finding 2015 Twins, there is no shortage of available 40-man roster spots right now.  Florimon and Schafer are both out of options next spring, and project as very long shots to make the 25-man roster.  Fryer is also out of options, and is almost certainly replaceable in the offseason.  Correia and Willingham will be off the 40-man roster anyway by late October if they don't sign extensions (unlikely).  Burton has an option which could easily be declined.  Duensing and Swarzak are getting expensive and their roles are largely redundant with the cheaper Thielbar and Deduno, respectively.  Edgar Ibarra was just sent down to AA, suggesting he's not a strong candidate for 40-man retention.

The Twins aren't going to DFA veterans who aren't disastrous; that is just the way this organization is run.  Schafer has a real shot at being the 4th OF heading into next season so he isn't going to get DFA'd to make room this fall and the same goes for Fryer.  Right or wrong that is how the Twins view things.  I'm not sure what good 40 man spots are when my point is that there are many players that need to be evaluated at the big league level this season so 40 man decisions can be made this off season.