Minnesota Twins: Former prospect Alex Meyer calls it a career

The former Minnesota Twins pitcher announced that he’s retiring after sustaining multiple arm injuries during a three-year MLB career.

When the Minnesota Twins were slumping in the early part of this decade, Alex Meyer was a prospect that was counted on to bring them out of the basement of the American League Central. Acquired in the trade that sent Denard Span to the Washington Nationals, Meyer had an impressive pedigree and a fastball that could hit in the upper 90’s with an intimidating 6-foot-7 frame.

Unfortunately, the future is hard to predict for any pitcher and after sustaining several arm injuries over the past three seasons, Meyer decided to retire and announced it on his Instagram account.

"“I never thought in 2017 I was throwing my last pitch, but not everything goes how we expect it to,” Meyer said in the post. “After multiple surgeries and countless hours of rehab, the end of the road for my baseball career has come. Thank you to everyone who helped me over the years. I feel so lucky for all of the opportunities this game has brought me—all the way from my first game at North Park to my final one at Angels Stadium. I’m going to miss baseball and the relationships I made over the years, but it’s time to head home and get ready for the next chapter of my life. Thank you, again.”"

After being selected 23rd overall by Washington in the 2011 MLB Draft, the Twins acquired Meyer prior to the 2013 season. In his first year in the Twins system, Meyer was dominant, posting a 4-3 record and a 3.21 ERA at Double-A New Britain. Although his numbers went up as he continued to climb up to Triple-A Rochester, Meyer’s future was still considered bright ranking as high as 15th on Baseball Prospectus’ top 101 prospect rankings prior to the 2015 season.

That year, Meyer would make his major league debut with Minnesota and the results weren’t pretty. Going back and forth between Rochester and the Twins for the next two years, Meyer logged a 0-1 record with a 14.21 ERA including a WHIP of 3.00 in 12 innings.

The Twins would cash out on Meyer in a trade that also sent Ricky Nolasco to the Los Angeles Angels in the summer of 2016, and Meyer began to figure things out in 2017 with a 4-5 record with a 3.74 ERA in 13 starts.

Meyer’s last start on July 19, 2017 would be against the team that drafted him and in seven innings, he allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out seven batters in a 7-0 victory. The right-hander would begin experiencing shoulder issues after that start and would eventually undergo surgery for a torn labrum that forced him to miss the 2018 season.

Meyer would attempt to make a comeback this season, but recently had a setback according to the Orange County Register that would make him shut it down for good.

Overall, Meyer would compile a 5-8 record with a 4.63 ERA in 22 games (18 starts) between Minnesota and Los Angeles. Although he started to flash toward the end of his career, Meyer’s potential was never realized on a major league mound.