Exit Interview 2020: Ryan Meisinger

After every season (dating back to 2012), we’ve spent time looking at every player that got into a game for the St. Louis Cardinals that season.  They might have gotten a couple of innings, they might have played every day, but if they played, they get a post.  Usually, I like to term this like the players are packing up their locker and then seeing Mike Shildt before they head off for the winter.  This year, of course, was anything but typical.  So we’ll look at every player, we’ll take in some of their stats, but we won’t be giving out grades this season or delving too much into the positive/negative.  There are just too many variables in the Year of COVID for that to be reasonable.  As he has for the past few years, cardinalsgifs has lent his enormous talents to our header image and we thank him for it!

Player: Ryan Meisinger

Season stats: 0.00 ERA, 2 G, 2.2 IP, 1 H, 4 BB, 3 K, 6.57 FIP, 1.875 WHIP, 10.1 K/9, 0.1 bWAR

Postseason stats: DNP

Statcast: 20.0% barrel %, 84.2 exit velocity, 40.0% hard hit %, .433 xwOBA

Best Statcast category: Fastball Velocity (25th percentile)

Worst Statcast category: Fastball Spin (25th percentile)

Hero/Goat: None

On COVID IL: No

Overview: When Meisinger was claimed off waivers from the Orioles last winter, I don’t imagine anyone expected to actually see him in the big leagues.  Most people probably didn’t even register the transaction.  In a normal year, Meisinger would have spent much of his year in Memphis, being that guy that has a little experience but, if you bring him up and then have to waive him off the 40-man, wouldn’t hurt you much at all.

COVID changed those plans, but not by much.  Meisinger got a chance to be in the big leagues when the roster was ravaged by the virus, but as people started getting healthy he wasn’t high enough on the pecking order to get a few more chances before going back to Springfield.  His first outing was against the Cubs, throwing an inning and two-thirds in the middle of a game that St. Louis lost, though not because of him.  He bounced back to Springfield then before resurfacing when the roster was shuffled after a run of doubleheaders.  He got a scoreless inning against the Reds in a 16-2 game before riding back to the other side of Missouri, where he stayed the rest of the season.

There’s not much you can say about Meisinger’s season, really.  He got another chance at the big leagues and he might get some minor league offers based on that for a year or two.  He obviously still needs to throw strikes, though with his velocity it’s a good chance more strikes would equal some rough results as well.  Overall, he’s a body that you can temporarily plug into a major league roster and he’ll probably get you a few outs.  Most of us would love to be in that spot.

Outlook: Meisinger is a free agent and I wouldn’t rule out the Cardinals extending him a minor league deal, but with the potential of a very flooded market Meisinger might be on the outside looking in.  I would imagine he’d be in someone’s minor league system next year but I also wouldn’t want to put very much money on it.

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