An Interview with Astros OF Brandon Meredith

I had the opportunity earlier this year to interview Brandon Meredith by email, but I held out until I could talk to him in person. And there was a reason for that. For most of the players that are on twitter, you kind of get a feel for their personality after a while. But I never really got that feel for Brandon. And apparently I'm not the only one. Lancaster Hitting Coach Darryl Robinson says, "He's a guy that I'm still learning." Manager Rodney Linares describes Meredith as "my enigma."

Meredith has a bit of a dual personality, a jokester off the field and a hard-nosed player on the field. He may be off to a slow start, but the one thing he has done is to earn the respect of Linares, "He gets all my respect for the way he plays. He plays the game hard. There's no wasted effort in what he does. You know he's giving you everything he's got." When I mentioned this assessment to Meredith, he responded, "Whether you hit the ball on the ground or a pop-up, there’s no reason not to give it everything you have. It’s such a cliché but it could be the last game you ever play."

Robinson is still trying to figure out Meredith's good habits and bad habits, but says of Meredith, "He's got a little bit of pop. He's got some power. He doesn't swing at a lot of bad pitches." Meredith has been working on his timing, somewhat impacted by a wrist injury earlier on, and working on seeing more pitches. But, according to Linares, he may just be one of those players who is slow to make adjustments from league to league, a hypothesis that is borne out by Meredith's terrific latter season numbers in the Sally League in 2012. Personally, I always feel like Meredith is right on the cusp of breaking out big as he did last season.

Brandon Meredith - May 2013

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Here is what Brandon had to say when I spoke with him earlier in the month (edited for brevity and clarity) ~

How would he describe his personality?: "I’m very intense about the game, but I’m [also] very loose. I like to keep things light, but when it’s time for business, it’s time for business. I’m definitely the guy that jokes around. I love all my teammates and I’m real comfortable with them. We all have our inside jokes and stuff like that. It makes it a lot better."

What is he working on?: "I’m just working on keeping my confidence where I’m hitting, swinging at a selection of pitches that I can drive in. I think I sometimes struggle because in college, in high school, I was never the power guy. I was always gap-to-gap and I had some doubles. I’m trying to transition into being that power guy, and it’s tough for me to sometimes grasp what I need to do in certain situations and what pitches to swing at. And striking out, I don’t want to say it’s okay but it’s not the worst thing. I personally hate striking out. They don’t necessarily just want me to put the ball in play. They want me to do some damage. So I need to find out what pitches I need to swing at, but I’m not worried at all. I just continue to work and just have fun with it. I do get upset with myself sometimes and not being able to play to the best of my ability, but again it’s really early. That’s the hardest part for me to understand. I was at extended still at this point last year. It’s really hard for me to comprehend that it’s still early."

Which Astros pitcher would he least like to face?: "I would say Trope, [Nick] Tropeano. I’ve seen in the past two years what he does, and I love playing for him, behind him. He’s real intense. He gets after people. That’s probably one guy that I wouldn’t want to face."

Who on the team makes him laugh?: "You know who’s real funny to me is Tuck [Preston Tucker]. His personality is just so funny to me. He seems real quiet, but he’s real witty with his jokes. He’s just a great guy."

What would he do if he couldn't play baseball?: "I can’t even think about that. Baseball's been my life for so long. I’d like to coach or maybe do some weightlifting stuff for high school age [kids] and get them ready to do what they want in sports and things like that."

Something most people don't know about him: "I think it’s my personality because if you don’t know me, people see me and think maybe I’m arrogant or something like that. It’s just funny to me because I get along with everybody and just love to have a good time, but other than that I’m not really sure people would be surprised. I’m real open about things."

On the status of the Astros farm system and the competition: "It’s always good. In spring training, it was like 'wow,' there were [talented] guys everywhere. It’s the kind of organization you want to be in because it makes you better as a player because of the competition. It’s going to be hard to move. It’s always a good thing when there’s a lot of competition around you. Other players bring you up instead of you being the only guy out there. This lineup is crazy."

So, who is Brandon Meredith? It turns out that he's as driven and intense on the field as he is funny and light-hearted off it. Without exception he was noted by his teammates as the player that makes them laugh. And yet both Linares and Robinson described him as being quiet and intense. An enigma, indeed, but one well worth getting to know.

Thank you for your time, Brandon, and the best of luck as the season unfolds.