Evan Meek

Evan Meek
Pittsburgh Pirates – No. 47
Relief pitcher
Bats: Right Throws: Right
debut
April 2, 2008, for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Career statistics (through July 27, 2010)
Win-Loss	5-5
Earned run average	2.79
Strikeouts	98
Saves	1
Teams
Pittsburgh Pirates (2008-present)
Career highlights and awards
All-Star selection (2010)

Evan David Meek (born May 12, 1983 in Template:City-state) is a right-handed Major League Baseball relief pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was named to the 2010 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

Early career

Meek attended Inglemoor High School in Template:City-state. Afterwards he played for Midland College in Midland, Texas. Then he transferred at semester to play at Bellevue Community College also in Washington.

Minor leagues

After being select by the Minnesota Twins in the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft Meek began playing for the Twins affiliate in the Appalachian League. After three years in the Twins organization Meek spent the next two seasons playing for the minor league teams of the San Diego Padres and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. In the 2007 Rule 5 Draft Meek was selected away from the Devil Rays by the Pittsburgh Pirates. This required that Meek remain on the active roster of the Pirates for the entire 2008 season or else the Pirates would have had to offer him back to the Devil Rays for half the amount they paid to acquire him.

Major leagues

2008

Meek made his major league debut on April 2, 2008 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He would record his first career loss in extra innings against the Chicago Cubs on April 7, 2008. Meek made nine relief appearances, going 0-1 with a 6.92 ERA, before being designated for assignment on May 4, 2008. He was offered back per Rule V guidelines on May 14. The Pirates paid cash to keep him and sent him down to their minor league teams.

After pitching 9 games with the Curve, Meek was promoted to the Indianapolis Indians.

2009

Meek spent the 2009 season in the bullpen with the Pirates. He finished the season with a 1-1 record in 41 appearances, had a 3.45 ERA, gave up 2 home runs, 0 hit batsmen, 29 walks, 42 strikeouts, a .209 average against, and a 1.34 WHIP, in 47.0 innings pitched.

2010

The 2010 season is Evan's first full season in the Majors. Meek has been a revelation for the Pirates, dominating the setup role behind Octavio Dotel. Often asked by manager John Russell to pitch multiple innings in relief, Meek's performance has rivaled other excellent closers like Joakim Soria and Brian Wilson despite not being one himself. Early in the season when Dotel had given up runs in six straight games as the closer, Meek had an opportunity in the role and earned his first Major League save on April 29, 2010 to close out a 2-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. He showed his true potential on May 14, 2010 against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Entering the game in the 6th inning with the score tied 6-6, he pitched two scoreless innings of relief, striking out four of the seven Cubs hitters he faced including Derrek Lee, Xavier Nady and Alfonso Soriano in the bottom of the 7th. The Pirates rallied behind his strong pitching to win the game 10-6.

Meek delivered one of his finest performances of the season against the Washington Nationals on June 10, 2010, coming in to relieve Pirates starter Zach Duke with the bases loaded and no outs. He quickly forced Willie Harris to line into a double play before retiring Cristian Guzmán, needing only six pitches to get out of the inning with no runs in. Due to his excellent work, he was named to the 2010 MLB All Star Game. At the time of his selection on July 4, 2010, Meek carried a 4-2 record with a 0.96 ERA, a mark that lead all National League relievers. "It's surprising," Meek said. "A lot of starters and closers go to the game. I've always said there are a lot of great middle relievers out there who deserve to go to the game. I think they're overlooked a little bit. It's amazing to be selected, an overwhelming feeling."

Meek is the first Pirate reliever selected who was not a closer since Mace Brown in 1938 - before the closer position emerged. The Pirates celebrated his nomination at PNC Park with an 8-5 victory over the visiting Philadelphia Phillies, a game where Meek was the winning pitcher.

On August 3rd, 2010, Evan Meek hit his first career base hit.

Scouting report

Meek's four-seam fastball normally sits around 95 mph, although he is capable of reaching 97-98 mph on occasion. It is his primary pitch, throwing it slightly over half the time. Despite missing the final two months of the 2009 Major League Baseball season, he added 8 pounds of muscle during the off-season and promised that he would be able to hit 100 mph in 2010. Since his command has improved throughout his career - 5.55 walks per 9 innings in 2009 to around 2.10 in 2010 - opposing batters have shown more willingness to chase the pitch, even out of the strike zone to due his ability throw his other pitches for strikes.

Meek's curveball is his primary off-speed pitch, with the velocity sitting around 79-82 mph.

Meek throws a cutter that was rated in August 2009 as the 3rd most effective cutter in Major League Baseball because of its runs above the MLB average. The pitch has "unfair biting" movement, even against left-handed batters, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Average velocity is 92-93 mph and he normally likes to use it when he gets ahead in a count as a strikeout pitch. It is normally a very difficult pitch to hit well, helping him limit the number of extra base hits he allows.

Meek also throws a fourth pitch, an off-speed slider that is seldom used in pressure situations. The pitch normally sits around 80-82 mph, mainly incorporated to keep hitters out of a rhythm. His ability to throw four pitches well however, makes him rare as a relief pitcher as the normal reliever only possesses a two-pitch arsenal.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)