Jul. 14—Justin Meis knew the Pittsburgh Pirates were interested when they continued to make calls to check in after almost every round late in the second day of the MLB Draft.
Meis was on vacation with nearly two dozen members of his family at Deep Creek Lake in Maryland when he got a call that was different, especially the greeting from Pirates area scout Anthony Wycklendt.
“The first thing he said when I answered the phone was ‘Congratulations!’ ” said Meis (pronounced “mice”). “It was an unbelievable feeling. I turned around gave a thumb’s up to my family. That’s something I’ll never forget.”
Meis, a right-handed pitcher from Bethel Park who is a junior at Eastern Michigan, was thrilled when the Pirates selected him in the 10th round (No. 283 overall) Monday afternoon. The assigned slot value for the pick is $149,500, and Meis said he plans to sign with the Pirates.
“To be honest, I don’t even know if you can put it into words,” Meis said. “It’s been a dream of mine ever since I was growing up. Now that it happened, I don’t even know what to say. It’s pretty cool.”
Getting drafted by his hometown team was the culmination of an unforgettable year for Meis, who had a moment to remember this season against eventual College World Series champion Mississippi State.
The 6-foot-2, 175-pounder went 4-6 with a 4.64 ERA and 1.44 WHIP and led Eastern Michigan with 81 strikeouts and 73 2/3 innings this season. Meis also pitched well in the wooden-bat Cape Cod League, where he was 1-1 with a 2.07 ERA, 17 strikeouts and three walks in 17 1/3 innings over four starts for the Cotuit Kettleers.
Meis long has relied on his four-seam fastball, which sits at 91-94 mph and touches 96, and a slider that serves as his out pitch. He developed a changeup that he became comfortable with in the Cape Cod League. Meis says he never has thrown a curveball, even if his slider has been described as a slurve.
“I like to attack hitters, fill up the zone, throw a ton of strikes,” Meis said. “Obviously, going forward, I hope to put on a little more weight and gain some velocity. Growing up, I’ve been a pitcher that likes to work fast, throw strikes and let the defense work behind me. I don’t plan on changing that the next few years.”
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said the club received strong feedback on Meis from the Eastern Michigan coaching staff through an Eagles alum who works in baseball operations. Cherington said he believes Meis has the three-pitch repertoire and control that could make him a starter.
“One of our underrated stars in amateur scouting is a guy named Matt Skirving, who is our coordinator of amateur scouting and basically runs the draft for us,” Cherington said. “He played at Eastern Michigan, so he’s got unique insight there. We got good, good information on Justin, and we were able to see him a lot. Really believe in the person. He is an athletic right-handed pitcher whose stuff has continued to progress. Throws strikes, and it’s just gotten better and better while he’s in college. That seems to have continued on the Cape, so we’re looking forward to working with him.”
Meis proved he can pitch on a big stage March 13 in Starkville, Miss. After taking a no-hitter into the sixth and pitching eight scoreless innings against the No. 3 Bulldogs, he received a standing ovation from the home crowd at Mississippi State’s Dudy Noble Field upon exiting a tied game in the bottom of the ninth. Meis allowed three hits, three walks and had four strikeouts while throwing 104 pitches and facing 32 batters before being pulled, only to see his replacement give up a three-run walk-off homer in a 4-1 loss.
“That’s something I’ll remember forever, since they went on to win the national championship,” Meis said. “Their ballpark and their fans are absolutely incredible. They all love baseballand know the game. It was a pretty special day for me and my parents (Jeff and Leigh). When they stood up, that was the coolest moment of my career so far.”
Meis wasn’t sure if that performance had much of an impact on the Pirates picking him in the draft.
Senior director of amateur scouting Joe DelliCarri said he watched more games on television than ever and was impressed with the way Meis pitched against Mississippi State. But DelliCarri is an Upper St. Clair resident, and national supervisor Jack Brown is from Bethel Park, so both have followed Meis since his high school days and are more impressed with his makeup, that he throws strikes and has a good breaking pitch than with one memorable outing.
“The big moments are nice to put the cherry on top,” DelliCarri said, “but we know they’re only one instance in time, that over the long period of time the workload these pitchers put in matters — probably even a little bit more than the big spots that they show up. But it doesn’t hurt.”
For Meis, that the Pirates showed so much interest in him that they selected him on the second day of the draft made for an even bigger moment.
“They were keeping in touch with me, which was sweet since they are the hometown team,” Meis said. “I’ve been telling people, ‘It’s been a dream of mine to get drafted. If it’s the Pirates, it’s the Pirates, but the goal was to get drafted.’ I wasn’t picking and choosing, but since it was the Pirates that made it that much more special.”
Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Kevin by email at kgorman@triblive.com or via Twitter .