2020 Draft Preview: Max Meyer (RHP)

NAME: Max Meyer
SCHOOL: Minnesota
POSITION: RHP
HEIGHT/WEIGHT: 6’0″, 185 lbs
B/T: L/R
D.O.B.: March 12, 1999
PREVIOUSLY DRAFTED: Minnesota Twins, 2017 – 34th round (1,006 overall)

Scouting Report

Max Meyer attended Woodbury High School in Woodbury, Minnesota where he made a name for himself on both the local and National level. Prep Baseball Report and Perfect Game rated Meyer as a top 10 player in Minnesota and both had him rated in the top 130 among prep players across the country.

Meyer pitched and played infield at Woodbury High, where he went on to be named an All-Suburban East Conference selection (three times), All-State selection (two times), and was an Academic All-State selection as a senior. Baseball, however, wasn’t the only sport Meyer found success in at Woodbury High. He also played on the hockey team as a forward.

Upon joining the Minnesota Gophers baseball program, Meyer would continue to be a two-way player. While he put up decent numbers as a hitter, the right-hander was much more successful on the mound. As a freshman in 2018, Meyer was the closer for the Gophers and tied the school record in saves with 16. In 26 appearances that year, Meyer posted a 2.27 ERA while allowing 25 hits, 13 walks, and 54 strikeouts in 43.2 IP.

After a stellar freshman campaign, Meyer would make the transition from bullpen to rotation where he would continue to put up standout numbers. In 76.2 innings and 11 starts, Meyer racked up 87 strikeouts, issued 20 walks, and gave up 58 hits in 2019. His 87 strikeouts led the club and he was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team. Not too shabby for your first collegiate season as a starting pitcher.

Although the 2020 season was eventually cancelled, Meyer continued his dominant ways in limited opportunities. He made four starts, where he rung up 46 batters and only allowed 8 walks in 27.2 IP. At that time, he was leading his conference in strikeouts and was fifth in the country in that same category. Even though he hasn’t had a ton of work as a starting pitcher, Max Meyer still managed to put himself in a position to be one of the first few collegiate arms selected in the 2020 draft.

Scouting Grades

These scouting grades are from MLB Pipeline. Meyer’s grades probably fluctuate across other publications.

FASTBALL: 70
CHANGEUP: 55
SLIDER: 70
CONTROL: 55
OVERALL: 55

Prospect Overview and Future Outlook

Meyer’s fastball and slider are graded out as well above average offerings, and according to MLB Pipeline, he has the best slider in his draft class. His fastball registers in the mid-to-high 90’s consistently and it can get up to triple digits. Even though he’s undersized for a starting pitcher and doesn’t have a lot of experience in that role at the collegiate level, his arsenal and arm talent are things to dream on.

While his changeup is graded as his worst pitch, it’s still slightly above average. Scouts have noted that Meyer began trusting and using his changeup more this season and there’s potential for it to develop into a much better offering.

He has a simple, repeatable delivery and makes up for his smaller frame by bringing athleticism to the table, which comes from being a multi-sport athlete as well as a two-way baseball player. Aside from having an arsenal with two elite pitches and a developing changeup, a lot of Meyers success has been due to his ability to pound the strike zone. During his time at Minnesota, Meyer posted a career K/9 of 11.4, BB/9 of 2.5, and 0.93 WHIP across 148.0 IP in three seasons.

Mock Draft Outcomes

MLB Pipeline has Max Meyer rated as the ninth best prospect in the 2020 draft class and in Jonathan Mayo’s mock draft, he has Meyer going to Seattle with the sixth pick. That seems to be a common theme with Meyer, who has been mocked in the top ten across most publications.

There are teams picking ahead of Seattle who will likely add a college pitcher. Since the other college pitchers ranked in the top 10 have more experience as starters, I would think that six is probably Meyer’s ceiling, and would expect him to be selected somewhere in the seven to ten range.

With that being said, there’s a good chance that Meyer won’t be available when the White Sox are on the clock with the eleventh pick. However, if he’s still on the board at that time he would be an intriguing option for the team. We know the White Sox love their college players and Meyer would be the best arm available from that group if he was still waiting for the call at that time.

Potential Fit with the White Sox

You can never have enough pitching depth in baseball. It’s tough for pitchers to stay healthy and the White Sox (unfortunately) know a thing or two about some of their current pitchers in the organization needing to have Tommy John or other surgeries. Meyer would give the White Sox another fire baller that has the ability to rack up a ton of strikeouts and he would help boost the starting rotation.

At the same time, the White Sox still have right-handed starters like Dane Dunning, Jonathan Stiever, and Jimmy Lambert who are close to the majors and will have an opportunity to earn a rotation spot, or carve out their future role with the team. While Meyer would join the org and instantly see himself as one of the top pitching prospects, there’s still some things that need to be worked out with the previously mentioned prospects in the org right now.

Max Meyer is a very talented pitcher and the White Sox would benefit by adding him. Even though it seems like the White Sox don’t have to add a right-handed college pitcher right now, as it’s not necessarily a need, the value of adding Max Meyer with the eleventh pick if he’s still there might be too much value for the White Sox to pass up.

Photo Credit: Brad Rempel/University of Minnesota Athletics

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