Jul 21, 2021 5 min read

The Wild Things’ players know James Meeker shouldn’t be their teammate today.

Manager Tom Vaeth realizes he shouldn’t have Meeker in Washington’s bullpen.

The rest of the Frontier League wishes Meeker was no longer pitching in Washington.

However, opportunity hasn’t met need, which is the only logical explanation for why Meeker is still pitching for the Wild Things instead of hurling fastballs in some major league team’s farm system.

Meeker (6-4, 230), a right-handed reliever from Wexford, has done everything asked of him this year. Entering Wednesday night’s game against Quebec, Meeker had thrown 25 1/3 scoreless innings this season. Meeker’s scoreless streak is actually 27 2/3, dating back to the 2019 season. The 2020 Frontier League season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With one clean inning Tuesday night, Meeker broke the team record for consecutive scoreless innings pitched, which was 27 by J.J. Hollenbeck in 2008.

If you want to include Meeker’s pitching last summer in a four-team pod that was operated by the Wild Things, his scoreless streak extends to 35 1/3 innings and covers almost two years.

To go with his 0.00 ERA this season, Meeker has 36 strikeouts. He has allowed only 11 hits and seven walks.

“I call him a cheat code,” Wild Things closer Zach Strecker says. “When we’re in trouble, it’s like in a video game. We bring in Meeker and he strikes out everybody.”

Meeker has dominant stuff, for sure. Yet as good as Meeker has been, he remains in the Frontier League, which has had more than 20 pitchers, including one from the Wild Things, move on to major league organizations since the beginning of May.

“I would be lying if I said that hasn’t crossed my mind,” Meeker admits, “but it’s out of my control. To get picked up is my goal. Until that happens, I’ll keep pitching and trying to put up numbers.”

What apparently makes the scouts pass over Meeker is his age, 26, and lack of experience in affiliated baseball – he has none. Major league organizations prefer younger pitchers or guys with some affiliated experience who were released too soon.

“What’s working against him is his age and his resume. It’s unfortunate because that’s something I can’t help him with, but I’m trying,” Vaeth said. “I talk to organizations about the kid on a semi-daily basis. I’ve told him the best thing he can do is keep doing his job here and stay mentally ready for when you get your opportunity (in affiliated ball) because it’s going to happen.”

Meeker wasn’t always a pitcher. After helping North Allegheny to a WPIAL championship as a senior, Meeker played college baseball at Akron. He was a third baseman of modest hitting credentials. Akron, however, dropped its baseball program after Meeker’s second year, which turned out to be a redshirt season. He transferred to Delaware and spent his first year there as the starting shortstop.

“We had a good team at Delaware and won the conference my first year,” Meeker said. “I struggled at the plate. My coach told me he always liked my arm and said, ‘If you want to stay on the field next year, why don’t you try pitching?’ So I threw a bullpen session or two and then slid into a relief role.”

Meeker had a 10-4 record and eight saves over two seasons for the Blue Hens, then signed with the Wild Things after his senior season. He has steadily improved with Washington. In his first season, Meeker had a 2-1 record, 3.94 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 29 2/3 innings. The next season, he pitched in 40 games out of the bullpen, going 2-3 with a 3.17 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 54 innings.

The steady improvement has continued to this year and Meeker is seeing the results of adding about 15 pounds of muscle to his frame since the start of his pro career. Meeker said his fastball velocity was only 86-89 mph in 2018 but it has jumped significantly over the years, to a consistent 93-95 mph this season.

“Players on other teams keep asking why he is still here,” Strecker said. “Frank Mostcatiello, a pitcher for Quebec, asked me (Tuesday) what Meeker is doing here. When we played at Tri-City (former major leaguer) Willy Garcia asked why Meeker was still with us. We know he shouldn’t be here. He should be off chasing his dream, playing in affiliated ball.”

So what more does Meeker have to do in the Frontier league to get picked up by a major league organization? When asked that question, Meeker just shakes his head.

Until then, Meeker can only try to keep putting up zeroes in the linescore and hope they impress the scouts.

“I’ll try to keep doing what I’m doing and put them in a position where they have no choice,” Meeker said.