WVU’s Chase Meyer enters MLB Draft with a decision to make

West Virginia’s highly-rated recruit weighs the possibility of going pro straight out of high school, but says he will prove he is a first-round pick if he comes to WVU

Every college baseball player dreams of hearing their name called in the MLB Draft. Though for only a small percentage of players does that dream become reality.

An even smaller collection of baseball players — between 0.5 and 1 percent — are fortunate and skilled enough to experience the thrill of being drafted before they ever take the field for a college baseball game.

The 2023 MLB Draft begins Sunday. And at some point over the next three days, WVU incoming freshman Chase Meyer is expected to join that elite group of drafted high schoolers.

“The feeling of being in the position I am right now, it’s definitely like, you’re excited and all, but I don’t want to get too in my emotions,” Meyer told Gold and Blue Nation last month.

Speaking a few weeks ahead of the draft, Meyer did not want to let the excitement take over. But the hype surrounding him has been present for a few years.

Meyer has a perfect 10 out of 10 grade from Perfect Game. The baseball recruiting site also lists him as the No. 7 high school baseball player in North Carolina in this recruiting cycle, and the No. 31 right-handed pitcher in the country this year. Overall, he is ranked as the No. 110 senior high school baseball player in the U.S., making him one of the highest-rated commits in WVU baseball history.

As a senior at Combine Academy just outside of Charlotte, Meyer posted an 8-1 record this spring. He gave up just six earned runs in 48 innings pitched and held opposing batters to a batting average around .140. He tallied an even 100 strikeouts and issued just 15 walks.

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Last month, he traveled to the MLB Draft Combine, which not only gave him a chance to perform in front of MLB scouts and talent evaluators, but also allowed him to meet with teams and get a better sense of his draft stock.

“Going to the Combine and meeting with a bunch of teams, and kind of just like hearing their standpoints on where we stand and where I am on their board, it definitely gave me more of an eye-opener of what I am going to be,” said Meyer.

That leads to the multi-hundred-thousand-dollar question: When and where will Meyer be selected in the draft?

According to Meyer, he has gained interest from multiple teams, who told him they would be interested in drafting him between the third and fifth rounds.

The fifth round ends with pick No. 164. Meyer is not listed among the top 250 draft prospects on MLB.com. However, with such a vast pool of players to draft from (and teams taking signing bonus slot value into consideration with almost every pick), players can rapidly rise and fall on draft boards, meaning it’s not out of the question for Meyer to be picked that high.

No matter when he is drafted, Meyer will have a decision to make: immediately start his professional baseball career, or continue his baseball journey with West Virginia. The former allows him to collect a signing bonus and start on his track to the big leagues right away; the latter means he won’t be draft-eligible again for three more years.

Meyer told Gold and Blue Nation he has given his situation “a lot of thought” and said at the end of the day he is going to “bet on myself” no matter what happens.

Money aside, the dreams of one day becoming a first-round pick could play into Meyer’s decision-making this summer. West Virginia has proven itself as a program that can create high-round draft picks, such as Alek Manoah (1st round, 2019) and Michael Grove (2nd round, 2018), in recent years. JJ Wetherholt appears likely to be the latest Day One pick next summer.

After Wetherholt, Meyer could be next in line.

“I know that I can be a first-rounder if I have everything, and I also show the experience of what I can do in college,” he said. “It kind of just comes down to what the team gives me in the draft, or if they can’t meet my needs of what I think I’m valued at, then I’ll spend my next three years in college and prove them all wrong.”

The first round of the 2023 MLB Draft gets underway in Seattle on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET, and will be televised on ESPN and MLB Network. Days Two (rounds 3-10) and Three (rounds 11-20) of the draft begin at 2 p.m. ET Monday and Tuesday, respectively. Selections for both days will be streamed on MLB.com and on the MLB app.