Noble Meyer sets career high in strikeouts

JUPITER, FL—Fish On First number two prospect Noble Meyer has been improving rapidly. After struggling with his control early in the 2024 season, the 19-year-old righty has begun to dominate at the Low-A level. Facing the Tampa Tarpons on Saturday, Meyer pitched five innings, giving up two runs off of two hits, three walks and struck out a career-high 11 batters.

"Everything felt like it was like sharp today," said Meyer after his start. "Slider was really coming in nice. Throwing hard too—had a couple of high 80s, accidental cutter at 90—and the fastball velo is coming back. It's there. I know it's been down, but it's really coming back."

Mainly going with his four-seam fastball and slider, Meyer was able to generate 14 whiffs on the night. His four-seamer velocity was averaging 95.0 mph and topped out at 97.5 mph (tracked as his hardest-thrown pitch this season). Five of his 11 strikeouts were swinging and at one point in his outing, he had six straight strikeouts.

Some of the notable bats he faced and struck out were New York Yankees number four prospect Roderick Arias and number six prospect George Lombard Jr. He struck out Lombard three times and Arias once.

The only mistake of the night for Meyer came in the top of the first, surrendering a two-run shot to Dylan Jasso.

"He was staying off the plate, so I can tell he was diving back onto the plate trying to get to an away pitch, trying to bait that out. I throw one in, trying to make sure, 'Hey, you're not gonna be able to do that.' On the chalk, pulls his hands through, makes an amazing swing, 105 off the bat. Just gotta tip the cap. It's a great swing."

Meyer had posted an 8.00 ERA in his first three starts of the season with more walks than strikeouts. However, he has allowed only three earned runs over his last five starts combined (1.08 ERA) while generating a lot more swing-and-miss.

"I just changed my mentality and told myself, I'm not gonna have a battle with myself. I gotta throw a strike here, but I'm gonna execute and I'm gonna give you my best stuff," said Meyer. "Good luck hitting it."

Assistant general manager Gabe Kapler helped Meyer arrive at his current mindset by reminding him to "make it a battle against them, not yourself." Meyer has also received advice from director of player development Rachel Balkovec. Kapler and president of baseball operations Peter Bendix were both spotted at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on Saturday.

"I've talked to Kapler a lot," said Meyer. "I've talked to Rachel a lot and I don't think I've had a full conversation with Bendix, but I am looking forward to it."

Through eight starts this season, Meyer's ERA is now at 2.91 with a 1.21 WHIP and 43 strikeouts. His next scheduled start is a week from Saturday against the Daytona Tortugas, the Cincinnati Reds Low-A affiliate.

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