2018 Draft - Mets Pick #6: C – Nick Meyer - Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo (CA)

The Tribune -

Nick Meyer was born with two left thumbs.

That's not some idiom or roundabout way of saying he's not good with his hands — in fact, some scouts think the Cal Poly junior catcher has some of the best defensive hands in all of college baseball.

Meyer was born with two thumbs on his left hand due a condition called pre-axial polydactyly or "thumb duplication." His extra thumb was removed when he was 2 years old and left him without a knuckle. There are side effects; he can't bend his left thumb all the way, for example.

But Meyer went on to live a normal baseball-filled childhood growing up in Southern California. Now, the junior is leaving Cal Poly as one of the top catchers on draft boards heading into the 2018 MLB Draft next week.

   

Bless You Boys –

           In 2015, the Tigers drafted Kade Scivicque. In 2017, they drafted Joey Morgan. Shortly afterward, they traded for Jake Rogers. Put simply, Detroit likes defense-first backstops — bats are optional. There’s almost no catcher for teams to select this June that fits that profile better than Meyer.

Ranking him the 186th player in the class, Baseball America describes Meyer’s skills well, saying this: “He excels at stealing strikes at the bottom of the zone in particular, and guides his pitchers expertly through jams. His arm strength is consistently above-average and flashes plus, and he excels at back-picking runners off first base.” There is absolutely no doubt that he will be a catcher long-term.

The bat is what concerns evaluators. Meyer has avoided the strikeout plague, and is posting a career best line of .343/.404/.430. That said, he has no track record as a good contact hitter and the big average is backed by little power. Even a relatively empty average could turn Meyer into a glove-first regular, but he needs to prove he can continue hitting first.

Brian Sakowski/Perfect Game - @B_Sakowski_PG

I'm a fan of the Mets pick here in the 6th round, Cal Poly catcher. Nick Meyer, one of top defensive catchers in the class, MLB upside on that alone, how much he hits will determine how much upside he has