Russell supports Meek as an All-Star
PITTSBURGH – It takes quite a bit to make John Russell become nearly demonstrative. However, one question certainly got a rise out of the Pirates manager earlier this week and that was if he felt relief pitcher Evan Meek deserves a spot on the National League All-Star team that will be announced this afternoon.
Russell was asked that question in one of his post-game press conferences. He liked the subject so much that he sought out the questioner later in the Pirates’ clubhouse and gave an even lengthier answer.
“I know a lot of the fans around the country don’t know Evan and I don’t know how that’s going to play into the final selections of the teams,” Russell said. “But if Evan doesn’t make, it would really be a shame. I think he’s a shoo-in. I don’t know how they can’t put him on the team.
“The people inside the game know who he is. Everyone in the National League respects Evan as one of the best young relievers in the league. Everywhere we go, the other managers talk to me about him. And I know that nobody wants to hit against him because he has nasty stuff. He throws a 95-mph fastball that moves and a slider that disappears. He can match up with anybody.”
The Pirates figure to get only one player on the 34-man NL roster for the Midsummer Classic on July 13 at Anaheim. That is the way it goes for a team with the worst record in the league.
It is easy to give a cursory glance at the Pirates’ roster and say center fielder Andrew McCutchen will be the choice. While it would certainly be hard to quibble with McCutchen going to the All-Star Game in his first full major-league season, Meek has been the Pirates’ most effective performer.
Meek went into Saturday night’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies at PNC Park with a microscopic 0.98 ERA in 37 games and 46 innings while going 3-2 with one save. He had allowed just 29 hits and 11 walks while striking out 46.
“I don’t know how anyone could look at Evan’s numbers and say he isn’t worthy of being in the All-Star Game,” Russell said.
What will hurt Meek’s chances, though, is that he is not the Pirates’ closer. The vast majority of relievers picked for the All-Star Game are among the league leaders in saves, though a few set-up men have found their way onto the rosters in recent years.
“I’ve definitely thought about it,” Meek said of an All-Star berth. “I’d love to go. It would be awesome. But I don’t know if it’s going to happen and I can’t think too much about it because one of the biggest keys to my success has been my ability to stay focused on each game.”
Staying focused has helped Meek make major progress since making his major-league debut with the Pirates at the beginning of the 2008 season after being selected from the Tampa Bay Rays in the Rule 5 Draft the previous winter. Back then, he struggled to throw strikes and was overwhelmed by the major-league experience.
“The biggest difference now is I feel like I belong in the major leagues,” Meek said.
And Meek certainly belongs in the All-Star Game, too.
Herald-Standard sports correspondent John Perrotto is editor-in-chief of BaseballProspectus.com.