Draft:Nicholas Meyer (baseball)

Nicholas Joseph Meyer (born February 18, 1997) is an American professional baseball catcher in the Tampa Bay Rays organization. He played college baseball at Cal Poly, and previously played for the New York Mets organization.

Early life and high school
Nicholas Meyer was born in Westminster, Colorado on February 18, 1997. Meyer was born with a condition called pre-axial polydactyly, and was born with two left thumbs. He underwent surgery to have the extra thumb removed when he was two years old. This would cause Meyer to lose flexibility in his knuckle, and to this day, he cannot bend his left thumb all the way.

Meyer attended Santa Margarita Catholic High School, where he played football and baseball. Ironically, Meyer didn't begin catching until his junior year, while his brother Joshua played catcher on the varsity team ahead of him. However, once he took over, he was a natural.

Meyer considered joining his brother Joshua at Grand Canyon University, but ultimately decided to attend California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obisbo.

Freshman year
Meyer was in the starting lineup as a true freshman on Opening Day 2016 for Cal Poly. He would play 51 games his freshman year, hitting .301/.374/.370 with 21 RBIs. He would also have an impressive 41.5% CS on the defensive side of the ball. For his efforts, Meyer was named the Big West Conference Freshman Field Player of the Year.

Sophomore year
Though he hit only .255/.316/.330, Meyer played in all but one of Cal Poly's 56 games as a sophomore with 49 starts behind the plate. Despite this, Meyer would continue to be a force defensively, with a .985 FLD%, and a 40.9% CS. Meyer would win his 2nd consecutive John Orton Golden Glove award.

For the summer, Meyer was selected to be a member of the 2017 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. In these games, Meyer had an OBP of .350. Additionally, he threw out three of five base stealers while playing in 15 of Team USA's 20 games.

Junior year
In his final college season, Meyer had his best season yet, hitting .337/.394/.411 in 51 games. During the season, Meyer made a name for himself as a tremendous contact hitter, as he struck out just 19 times in 215 at bats. He continued to be a standout defensively as well, being named the Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Year.

MLB Draft
Before the draft, Meyer was considered a Day 2 selection in the 2018 MLB Draft. Meyer was in fact a Day 2 Selection, and was taken with the 170th pick in the 2018 MLB Draft by the New York Mets.

In order to entice him to forgo his collegiate senior season, the Mets offered Meyer a $350,000 signing bonus, roughly $65,000 over the MLB-assigned slot value of the pick he was selected at.

Meyer would play the rest of the summer in Coney Island with the Brooklyn Cyclones and hit .226/.275/.270 in 43 games.

St. Lucie Mets
In 2019, Meyer would play 64 games with the St. Lucie Mets. In those games, he hit .182/.250/.225. Defensively however, he would continue to shine, throwing out 33 of 42 base stealers for a CS% of 44%.

Tully Monsters
In 2020, the minor league season was cancelled due to COVID-19. Meyer would be able to play professional baseball that summer, playing for the Tully Monsters in the City of Champions Cup, a four-team pop-up league in Illinois. He would hit .247/.357/.360 in 27 games with the team.

Binghamton Rumble Ponies / Syracuse Mets
In 2021, Meyer would begin his season in AA, with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies. Meyer had a hot start to the season in Binghamton, hitting .375/.432/.375. The team would take notice, and call him up to their Triple-A Affiliate, the Syracuse Mets. Meyer would continue his hot streak with the Triple- A club and hit .282/.349/.333 while up with Syracuse. The team would send Meyer back and forth between Double-A and Triple-A throughout the season and he would finish 2021 hitting .251/.337/.324 in 62 games with the teams.

In 2022, Meyer would once again split time in Binghamton and Syracuse. He appeared in 72 games between the teams in the 2022 season. Meyer would end up hitting a combined .267/.360/.359 with Syracuse in his first two seasons with the team.

In 2023, with the New York Mets holding an abundance of catchers on their roster, Dick Scott would try Meyer out at several positions during the season. These positions included third base, first base, left field, right field, second base, and of course his typical position of catcher. Meyer would continue to shine defensively at each of these positions.

In addition to his efforts on the field, Meyer was a clear fan-favorite. At the conclusion of the 2023 season, Meyer was voted the Syracuse Mets 2023 Twin Trees Most Popular Player, as voted on by the fans. The fans are clearly drawn to his notorious mustache and his relentless work ethic after spending several years with the Triple-A team.

On November 1, 2023, the New York Mets released Meyer.

Tampa Bay Rays
On January 29, 2024, Meyer agreed to a contract with the Tampa Bay Rays.