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Colorado Rockies 2020 MLB Draft Profile: RHP Max Meyer

June 8, 2020

Welcome to the DNVR Rockies MLB Draft 2020 Preview Series where we profile individuals we think make the most sense for Colorado to target on Wednesday, June 10, 5:00 MT. We will have full live coverage on Facebook, Twitch, Twitter, and YouTube.

If you look only at the data, both from what has been more successful at Coors Field and what is likely to be available to the Rockies at the 9th overall pick in the draft, all signs may point in one direction.

Max Meyer, RHP out of the University of Minnesota.

The Good

Scouts have said Meyer has the best fastball/slider combination in the class. The fastball sits in the mid 90s and can be dialed up for a bit more on ocassion.One quoted by Baseball America even said the slider was the best on an amateur they had ever seen.

This led to a 10.2 K/9 rate and a 2.11 ERA over his most recent season pitched in 2019. While he may be one of the older players in the draft at 21.3 years of age, he has experience in front of larger crowds pitching in the Big Ten as well as pitching in colder weather through the Midwest.

Additionally, Meyer has been athletic enough to be a two-way player at times in his career, bringing an x-factor that many pitchers don’t have. Imagine the home run derby between him and German Márquez before ballgames in LoDo.

Concerns

At 6’0″, Meyer is undersized at his position. Regardless, he may just get snatched up before the Rockies can claim him.

Those really are reasons for pause. Obviously, there is nothing Colorado can do about the latter, but we shouldn’t balk at the former.

In addition to being short in stature, he weighs just 185, and there are some fair questions about how to project what he can do over the course of a longer season, especially at altitude.

The overall profile has us already dubbing him “Small Jon Gray” and he has quickly become a favorite at the DNVR offices.

If you value upside and don’t mind a possible backup plan of your number one overall pick becoming a bullpen fixture, Meyer may be the pitcher for the Rockies.