Kentucky Wildcats Baseball: Alex Meyer Selected 23rd by Nationals in MLB Draft

Alex Meyer, starting pitcher for the Kentucky Wildcats, was selected 23rd overall by the Washington Nationals in the first round of Major League Baseball's Rule 4 Amateur Draft last night.

Meyer, a 6-foot-9, 220 pound right-hander, went 7-5 for the Wildcats this year.  He posted a 2.94 ERA along with 46 walks and 110 strikeouts in 101 innings pitched.  While the Cats had a disappointing season overall, finishing the season 25-30 (and 8-22 in SEC play), their ace Meyer was stellar in blue and white.  He also tossed four complete games, including two shutouts, and earned second-team All-SEC honors.

Meyer becomes the fifth Kentucky player to be selected in the first round of the MLB Amateur Draft, following in the footsteps of Everett Murray (1975), Chad Green (1996), Joe Blanton (2002), and James Paxton (2009).  That's a vast improvement from Meyer's original draft slot -- In 2008, the highly regarded prepster was selected in the 20th round by the Boston Red Sox, but turned down a contract offer (with a reported $2 million bonus) to attend Kentucky.  After joining the Cats, Meyer had a disappointing freshman season followed by an injury-riddled sophomore campaign.  However, his junior year was stellar, and his on-field results translated to being drafted in the first round.

Should Meyer sign, he will join a Nationals system that is absolutely stacked with potential stars, starting with Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper, the first overall pick in the 2009 and 2010 drafts.  With the sixth overall pick in this year's draft, the Nationals drafted Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon.  Prior to the season, Rendon was considered by many to be top overall prospect in the draft.

Congrats to Alex on his Kentucky career and his draft slot as he goes after the dream of making in to the Majors.

After the jump, some draft capsules of Meyer and his potential as a pro:

SBNation, John Sickels

The Nationals had been linked to Meyer for weeks, but it was too soon to pick him at sixth-overall. Instead they get their man at 23rd.  A dominating presence on the mound at 6-9, 220, Meyer posted a 7-5 record with a 2.94 ERA and a 110/46 K/BB in 101 innings.  He touches 100 MPH on his best days and works consistently in the mid-90s, mixing in a good slider and workable changeup.  Meyer still has command issues at times and doesn't always repeat his mechanics consistently, but his ceiling is one of the best in the draft.  He's matured emotionally and how has a strong mound presence. Ideally he would develop into a number two starter, although if command is a long-term problem he could end up in a bullpen role.  It is unusual to find an arm with this kind of upside with the 23rd pick in the draft, testimony to how deep this class truly is.

ESPN, Keith Law

Meyer struggled through his first two years at Kentucky and barely pitched last summer before leaving Cape Cod with a tender elbow, but he has showed top-of-draft stuff from spring workouts on, with two pitches graded 70 or better and results that finally match.  He will pitch at 93-96 with plus life and has hit 99, coming from a low three-quarter slot that gives the fastball its movement and will make him very tough on right-handed hitters since he pairs it with a wipeout slider at 83-86 with late, hard tilt.  His command and control have improved to the point where you might see average in his future, but he's not there yet.  Meyer has sprouted to 6-foot-9 and has a lot of moving parts, but there are positives in the delivery including a good stride, shoulder tilt, and plenty of hip rotation.  His arm slot can drift up and down, although I love the late release point.  Meyer's lack of track record hurts him, and even with the improved control he was walking a guy every other inning until his last few outings, but it's top-10 or top-5 stuff with No. 1 starter upside.

ESPN, Jason Churchill

[Washington] tabbed Rendon at No. 6 and went pitching here with the best available college starter in Meyer. He brings big upside with a plus fastball-slider combo.  He's 6-foot-9 and when he keeps his delivery together is dominant and uses the slider to put batters away.  There's a chance he's a closer in the future but he holds his velocity well despite some inconsistencies with his command.  The Nationals, if we dream for a second, could have four perennial All-Stars out of the past three first rounds in Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper, Rendon and Meyer, with an above-average closer in Drew Storen.

Fangraphs, Marc Hulet

Meyer wanted to attend college bad enough that he hardly blinked at a $2 million offer from Boston at the end of his prep career.  Despite spending three years at a very good baseball school, the right-hander has iffy command and control.  His fastball reaches the high-90s and he has a plus slider but his changeup is lacking. It may take $2+ million again to get him signed and I'm not sure he's worth it at this point.

Baseball Prospectus, Kevin Goldstein

Mike Rizzo loves upside, and knows how to get a deal done with Scott Boras.  This is a match made in heaven.

MLB.com, Jonathan Mayo

When Meyer was a high school prospect in Indiana three years ago, he was very much a raw thrower, a project with a long way to go.  For the first two years at the University of Kentucky, he didn't really seem to develop much.  And while he's still not a finished product, he has come a long way in his junior season, just in time for the Draft.  The tall and lanky right-hander, who still has room for added weight and strength, has an outstanding combination of two plus pitches, with his fastball and slider.  He'll get the fastball up to 96-97 mph, with some tail to the inner half of the plate.  His power slider comes in at 86-88 mph, and it's a nasty pitch.  In the past, he's had serious command issues.  He's certainly not impeccable, but he has been getting ahead of hitters more consistently and shown fringy average command overall.  He also started throwing an 85-mph changeup.  It lags behind the other two, but it could be Major League average, a usable pitch, for sure.  Meyer was coming on strong at the right time, and if that offspeed pitch continues to develop, he has the chance to be a top-of-the-rotation-type starter, and that should have many teams, particularly those in the second half of the first round, taking a long look at him.