Around the Curve | Meis On Track to Achieve Childhood Dream
Growing up in the Pittsburgh suburbs and falling in love with baseball is a story that thousands of kids experienced throughout the generations. For a select few, a dream becomes reality. Curve pitcher Justin Meis stands just two steps away from making that his reality. Drafted in the 10th round
Growing up in the Pittsburgh suburbs and falling in love with baseball is a story that thousands of kids experienced throughout the generations. For a select few, a dream becomes reality. Curve pitcher Justin Meis stands just two steps away from making that his reality.
Drafted in the 10th round in 2021 out of Eastern Michigan by the Pittsburgh Pirates, Meis was someone they were long familiar with as he grew up rooting for in the Pittsburgh suburbs of Bethel Park. And while the organization was drawn to his mid-90’s fastball and devastating sweeping slider, it’s Meis who has added additional weapons to his repertoire to complement his mix. Now in his second season with the Curve, Meis is trying to carry over the confidence of his terrific second half of the 2023 season into a more consistent mold during the 2024 season.
Meis began his 2023 campaign as a starting pitcher for the Curve, joining Jared Jones, Kyle Nicolas, Sean Sullivan and Aaron Shortridge. While the results weren’t quite what the team had expected coming out of spring training, Meis shifted into a multi-inning bullpen role last June and turned into one of Altoona’s most reliable relief pitchers. He recorded a 1.88 ERA in five July outings (3 ER / 14.1 IP) with just seven hits allowed, seven walks, and 19 strikeouts. In his final 16 outings, he allowed one run or fewer 14 times (four starts) from July 3rd through the end of the season, he was 2-0 with a 2.20 ERA and struck out 45 batters in 40.0 innings while holding opponents to .153 batting average against.
“This off-season, I focused on carrying over that confidence from last year,” Meis said in mid-April outside the visiting clubhouse in Bowie. “I was also focused on my direction to the plate and staying behind the ball to be more consistent.”
Consistency in strike throwing has been something that Justin Meis has battled off-and-on throughout his baseball career. As hitters in Double-A have shown more patient approaches and less willingness to expand the strike zone, Meis has had a bit of an up-and-down campaign in his return season to the Curve in 2024. There have been flashes of brilliance, like a two-inning save against Portland on May 28, mixed in with heartbreaking moments, but Meis has shown signs in the month of June of turning the corner.
“I feel like I’ve been attacking the zone pretty well,” Meis told Justin Guerriero of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Democrat during the team’s home series against Akron last week. “Earlier in the year, I was spraying the ball a little bit, falling behind to hitters. You go through stretches in baseball where some things go your way and some things don’t. Recently, it’s been better. I’ve just been trying to stay in the zone, let my stuff play and just try to take it one pitch at a time.”
In the first six outings of his month of June, Meis has gotten himself on track, going 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA in ten innings. Meis has been in the strike zone more consistently allowing just four walks and striking out ten batters. His best outing came in Bowie on June 20 when he tossed three scoreless innings with four strikeouts across the seventh, eighth and ninth to give the Curve offense a chance to draw even and eventually earn a 10-8 win in 12 innings.
*This story was printed in Volume 25 Issue 7 of the Curve Chronicle for the July 4-6 homestand.*