Alex Meyer continues to impress in AFL

[Parker Hageman]

Baseball America reports that one of the Twins’ top pitching prospects in the Arizona Fall League continues to impress scouts and onlookers. In five starts, the six-foot-nine 23-year-old has compiled a solid line going 2-0 with a 3.63 ERA and 18-to-3 strikeouts-to-walks ratio in 17.1 innings pitched for the Desert Dogs.

 

According to BA writer Bill Mitchell, Meyer has been working on improving his changeup at the behest of the Twins’ organization:

 

“I’m definitely throwing my changeup more than I usually do,” Meyer said. “That’s what (the Twins) have been harping on to throw more and be able to get comfortable with that third pitch as a starter. I have been throwing it more. It’s getting better but it’s still not where I want it to be. There’s days where it’s really good and there’s days where it’s not good, so I’ve got to find that middle ground where I can have it in my back pocket at all times and be able to pull it out when I need to.”

 

The Twins are an organization whose starters have relied heavily on changing speeds so it comes as no surprise that the team would like Meyer to add this offering to coincide with his upper-90s no-seam fastball and plus knuckle-slider (which people refer to as his curveball).

 

Speaking of the breaking pitch, Fangraphs.com’s Enos Sarris pulled some Trackman data of Meyer’s performance to show why his breaking ball is more than just a show-me pitch. Trackman, which unlike Pitch F/X’s camera system, this captures the ball using radar and is able to give a better read of a spin rate. Sarris says that Meyer’s spin rate is 2697 RPM – whereas pitchers in the majors who had curveballs over 2700 RPM had a swinging strike rate of 13%.

 

Terry Ryan, has he discussed in the Offseason Handbook, is expecting significant contributions from Meyer and was on-hand to witness Meyer’s outing during the Arizona Fall League’s Fall Stars Game.

[PseudoSABR]

Meyer pitched well in the All star game against a pretty stacked lineup. He went three innings, allowing three hits and one walk, striking out three.

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Two things I enjoyed from both articles:

 

1) Meyer's fastball has AVERAGED 98.6 mph. Averaged! While yes it is a small sample size it is still insane.

 

2) Meyer is a substitute teacher. Awesome.