Cleveland Indians” Ryan Merritt
Ryan Merritt is famous in Cleveland for his work in the 2016 American League Championship series where he propelled the team to the World Series. Other than that memorable moment, he hasn’t had many opportunities in Cleveland. However, he has performed well when given a chance. In just 30, innings of big league work over the past two seasons Merritt has been worth nearly a win above replacement.
The big issue is that Merritt is the epitome of a soft-tossing lefty. His fastball averages only 87 mph and is a low spin pitch as well. This works in his favor in this velocity range though as it gives the pitch good sinking action which causes many hitters to hit the ball into the ground.
Merritt does an excellent job of mixing in his off-speed pitches as well to keep hitters off-balance. His 62second favorite pitch is a cutter in the mid-80s that gives the hitters a different look in the same velocity band as his fastball. Merritt then uses a change-up that sits in the low 80s to give yet another look at a similar velocity. His only pitch that does not lie in the 80s is his slow curveball that averages only 72 mph, which he uses as his single exact whiff pitch.
Merritt doesn’t strike many hitters out, but he has shown a knack for being able to force pop-ups. Pop-ups are caught almost every time and should be considered in the same vein as a strikeout. Combine that ability with his ability to induce ground balls and all Merritt needs to do to be successful is limit the walks and home runs against him which he has been able to do thus far in his brief career.
Merritt began the spring competing for the fifth spot in the rotation, but it seems more likely that he is now fighting for the last place in the bullpen. He should be able to put a little extra juice on his fastball in short stints out of the pen which should allow all of his stuff to play up. All in all Ryan Merritt could end up as an interesting lefty in the pen.