Cleveland Indians 2016 Top Prospects: #16 Ryan Merritt

After putting himself on the map in 2014, left-handed starter Ryan Merritt comes in at Number 16 on our 2016 Cleveland Indians Top Prospect countdown.

Who is Ryan Merritt?

Merritt joined the Cleveland Indians in 2011 when he was a 16^th round draft pick. The 24-year-old Texas native was an unheralded draft pick after spending one year at community college. He’s a left-handed starting pitcher who stands 6’0” and weighs about 170 pounds. He had a breakout 2014 season, in which he led the Carolina League in wins, WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched), and innings while also being top five in ERA. He was named the Tribe’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year, winning the Bob Feller Award. He was then added to the 40-man roster (to the surprise of some) following the season and split 2015 at the Double-A and Triple-A levels.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Merritt is a lot like yesterday’s prospect, Adam Plutko, in that he’s not flashy at all but rather relies on his outstanding control and feel for pitches. While I talked up Plutko’s walk rate yesterday, Merritt has an even better one, walking just 1.4 batters per nine innings in his five seasons in the Tribe system.

It’s a good thing Merritt has that outstanding control as he isn’t capable of blowing guys away. His fastball sits 88-90 while he’ll occasionally run it up to 92. He’s very good at changing speeds though and keeping hitters off balance. He has an excellent changeup as well as a curveball that still could use some work.

More from Away Back Gone

One area that Merritt is really lacking is in the strikeout department. In his five minor league seasons, he’s only struck out 6.3 batters per nine innings. To put that in perspective, Josh Tomlin, who is hardly a strikeout guy, has struck out 7.7 batters per nine innings in his minor league career. Despite the low strike out numbers Merritt is still able to get outs, but as he approaches the big leagues and faces better hitters, it could become an issue for him.

Merritt has always been prone to high hit rates as well. He’s allowed 9.2 hits per nine innings in his career and hitters have batted .264 off him. However, despite this, he’s been able to maintain a respectable 1.18 WHIP thanks to that low walk rate of his. He’s also done a good job of keeping the ball in the park. He’s way more of a groundball pitcher than Tomlin or Plutko, which is one reason I have him rated above the latter on this countdown…

Where Does He Go From Here?

Merritt has seen a sharp rise in his standing within the organization the last two seasons. A fringe prospect at best prior to 2014, he’s cemented himself as a guy with legit big league potential and went for Advanced-A to Triple-A in less than two years. After making five starts with the Triple-A Columbus Clippers in 2015 (not including playoff work), he appears set to return there to start the 2016 season. He was the youngest pitcher that saw time at Columbus and was the third youngest overall behind just Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez. He’ll likely be the youngest or second youngest pitcher again on the Clippers roster in 2016 and likely will open as the team’s number four starter behind Cody Anderson, T.J. House, and Michael Clevinger. He was also was recently optioned to Triple-A Columbus.

This will be Merritt’s second year on the Tribe’s 40-man roster and he’ll burn through his second of three minor league options. Already being in Triple-A that shouldn’t be too much of an issue but given the dearth of depth the Cleveland Indians have in the rotation there’s a chance Merritt could be transitioned to the bullpen at some point, possibly even in 2016. I do expect the Tribe to keep him in the rotation as long as possible. Former Indians Vice President of Player Development and current Blue Jays General Manager Ross Atkins raved about his makeup and athleticism and truly believed he’d be a big league starter one day. Again, he’s got a lot of Josh Tomlin in him and while many will be turned off by that, one can’t deny that despite his lack of stuff Tomlin has done well for himself at the big league level.

Next: Indians Top Prospects: #17 Adam Plutko

Whether or not Merritt will have the same (or more) success obviously remains to be seen. A lot of people aren’t as high on Merritt after his 2015 didn’t quite live up to his outstanding 2014 season, but I’m still a believer in him. The command is just too good to completely write him off, and I was impressed with his work at Akron, where he was the second youngest pitcher on the staff behind Shawn Morimando. He also threw a seven-inning no-hitter for the Rubberducks this past summer. I would not be shocked if we saw Merritt pitching in Cleveland at some point in 2016, be in the bullpen or as a spot starter…

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