An Interview with Astros Third Baseman Jonathan Meyer

Pitching and defense win championships, right? At least that's what the old saying has taught us. And what is more fun than watching a gravity-defying diving catch, a mind-blowing throw from the knees or just a perfectly turned double play? Although a few big home runs creep in to Web Gems and the SportsCenter Top 10 during the season, it is almost inevitably the big defensive plays that are the most wow-worthy.

Which brings us to Jonathan Meyer. When I was in Corpus Christi at the end of May last season, I didn't get a chance to talk with him, but I still heard a lot about him from his teammates and coach. Nick Tropeano and Mike Foltynewicz both singled out Meyer as someone they loved having behind them in the field when they pitched, Trope speaking of Meyer's great play at third and Folty saying, "Johnny Meyer at third base has made some spectacular plays." Fellow infielder Ben Orloff weighed in as well, "And Johnny Meyer at third, it's a Web Gem a night."

Corpus Christi skipper Keith Bodie also had high praise indeed, "One of the best defensive third basemen you'll see no matter where you go. He's just a natural with the glove." Bodie admitted that Meyer's bat is a work in progress, but noted that he was working hard to become the whole package at third, which is traditionally considered an offensive position in the majors. "He's getting better. He's made adjustments here. He's got the ability to drive the ball, get some extra base hits, so coupled with his defensive skills, we're looking at a potential Major League All-Star."

I wanted to talk with Meyer right after the season ended, but he was headed to the Arizona Fall League, where he started as a Taxi Squad player, but found his way into the lineup full time by the end of the season. Although not really known for his offense, he managed to hit .286/.340/.408, trailing only Cory Spangenberg of San Diego and Seattle's Chris Taylor in average for the Peoria Javelinas team.

I finally caught up with Meyer by phone on Saturday and we talked about his season, the AFL, playing in Corpus and the changes he's seen since coming into the Astros system as the third round draft pick in 2009, among other things.

Jonathan Meyer - May 2013

Photo by Jayne Hansen

The first question I asked Meyer was what he felt like he had accomplished during the 2013 season and what he was still working on. Meyer replied, "One of the things was hitting. This year was a much better year for me, hitting-wise. That's also something I still need to work on. As a player, defense has always been my forte, not so much hitting in the minor leagues, but this year was a lot better and next year, I'll be working a lot more on hitting approach."

When I noted that, ironically, his power numbers actually improved after he moved to Corpus for the 2013 season (punctuated with a career high 15 home runs) from hitter-friendly Lancaster the prior year, he had this to say, "I was just growing into my body a little bit more, getting a little bit more experience, more at bats. That helps me out being at the plate with more confidence knowing the stuff that I should be able to do and not so much doubting myself like when I was younger. I would just say it's more experience."

Meyer is an aggressive hitter who will need to work on his strikeout rate against right-handed pitchers, but there is much to like in the way he approaches an at-bat. I joked with him that it doesn't look so much like he's trying to hit the ball as he's trying to assassinate it. He laughed and agreed, "Yeah, I'm pretty aggressive when I hit."

Of his experience in the Arizona Fall League, Meyer called it a really good experience and said, "A lot of the guys out there are really highly talented guys and playing with those guys was a lot of fun, especially ... seeing how they do things. Talking with other players really helps from a lot of different perspectives." On hitting in the AFL, he noted, "All those guys are good out there, especially pitching-wise. If a guy's not throwing 95 out there, then he's 89 to 90 with a lot of sink, movement. Even guys that are throwing 95 have a lot of movement so it's tough."

But frankly, just getting the invitation to play in the Arizona Fall League was one of the highlights for him, "Definitely, when I got the invite, I was overly excited." In addition, Meyer was one of six players nominated for the Stenson Award, awarded to an AFL player who exemplifies "unselfishness, leadership and hard work." Although Meyer didn't win the award, he noted that "It was a real honor to get nominated for that."

On top of the AFL invite and the Stenson Award nomination, Meyer also earned a Texas League Post-Season All-Star nod and won the Allstate Good Hands Award for the best defender on the Corpus Christi squad at the end of the season. And with the recent news that Meyer has received an invitation to Spring Training, it has been a good year. Meyer said of the Spring Training invite, "I was very excited ... understatement ... very excited. I was really thrilled to hear that."

I asked Meyer what he thought about playing in Corpus in 2013. "Corpus is definitely about the most fun I've ever had playing baseball. The atmosphere was incredible. I could get a little out of it sometimes just staring at all of the stuff. I had to get that out. First exhibition game we played, I had to look around the stadium, make sure I saw everything so I didn't get distracted."

Known for his sterling defense, it was no surprise to me that when I asked Meyer about fellow Corpus players he enjoyed sitting back and watching, he picked out three great defenders, "I really liked three of our guys this year in Corpus. Kike Hernandez, of course, and Jiovanni Mier and Ben Orloff who isn't with us anymore. [Ben's] brother was my best friend since I was five and I got to watch [Ben] growing up so once we got drafted by the same team and I got to play with him, it was a huge, huge advantage for me. I got to learn a lot of things from him and he was one of my favorite guys to watch play."

Even when I asked Meyer which Corpus pitcher he would least like to face, the conversation came back around to defense, "I'd say Jake Buchanan. Just because one game he got 15 ground balls [outs] and it did not look fun for any of those hitters hitting. He broke all their bats or he jammed them. He is very tough. [He's] definitely one of the most, not overpowering guys, but effective guys I've seen. He's one of the most fun guys to play behind. He's a groundball machine."

Similarly, when I asked about an Astros player that Meyer felt was flying under the radar, Meyer picked David Martinez, another pitcher that he really enjoyed playing behind. "I felt like he was flying under the radar big time [before he was called up to OKC and then the majors]. This year [at Corpus], I don't know what his ERA was, but it was absurd. [Note: Martinez had a 2.02 ERA and a 0.997 WHIP in 129+ innings at Corpus in 2013.] He was another Jake Buchanan guy, works really quick and he's really fun to play behind. You'd almost miss a pitch. He'd be throwing, you turn around for a second, you look back, and the ball's already being pitched. He's another guy that I enjoy, one of the better pitchers I've played behind. The pace of the game is very important, especially coming out every single night. You're not going to feel great all the time. You're going to be tired. When you have a quicker pace, you just stay in tune with the game. [It] keeps fielders on [their] toes."

What would Meyer do if he couldn't play baseball? "I do not know. I would probably coach, which I do in the offseason at my high school, and I do enjoy it a lot."

I also asked my standard question. Can you tell me something about yourself that most people don't know and might be surprised to hear? "I'm from California and I love to shoot bows. I'm almost a country boy in California. People tell me that, that I don't belong here because I want to go hunting and stuff like that."

Since Meyer was drafted out of high school into the Astros system in 2009, he's seen a lot of change. "It's huge. You see the minor leagues and the guys that we have stacked up at positions. When I first came into the organization, there wasn't too much competition going on between levels and now you see that we have a lot of outfielders, a lot of infielders, a lot of pitchers, a lot of catchers. We have everybody we need in the minor leagues. Everybody's competing for a job every year. It's just the competition is a lot better."

I had one final question for Meyer. I wanted to know the origin of his twitter handle @TheYeti1123. Where did Yeti come from? "One of my former coaches, Stubby Clapp, told me, "You're not the prettiest looking guy on the field, but you can make the play. I'm going to call you Yeti." Meyer didn't care for the nickname at first, but it grew on him.

Jonathan Meyer - May 2013

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Pitching and defense. Pitching and defense. Pitching and defense. Jonathan Meyer has you covered at third base and he couldn't be having more fun doing it.

>>>>>>><<<<<<<

Thank you for your time, Jonathan, and the best of luck in the new season!