Earlier in the year a story came out about former Ashland University pitcher Ajay Meyer signing a free agent contract with the MLB’s Toronto Blue Jays. The former two-time GLIAC pitcher of year played this past season with the Bluefield Blue Jays in Bluefield, WV which is an affiliate of the team in the Appalachian Rookie League.

Last time Meyer was covered on August 15, he had gone through 10 starts for the Bluefield Blue Jays, earning a 3-2 record with a 3.29 ERA and 41 strikeouts.

Meyer’s junior year here at Ashland was his breakout season, earning him Pitcher of the Year honors in the GLIAC, and had professional scouts looking at him until an ACL injury deterred some of the attention.

In his senior year at AU, Meyer posted a 9-3 record in 16 games with a 1.57 ERA and 77 strikeouts. He was one of the eight finalists for the Tino Martinez award, which is awarded to the best baseball player in Division II. Meyer also earned ABCA All-America honors as well as being named the ABCA Midwest Pitcher of the Year.

After putting up those numbers his senior year, the scouts returned to give Meyer another chance, and although he did not get drafted, the Blue Jays decided to give Meyer a shot and offered a contract.

Meyer finished up the 2011 season with the Bluefield Blue Jays, starting 13 games and posting a 4-2 record with a 3.02 ERA and 55 strikeouts.

The Bluefield Blue Jays were a good team with Meyer on board this year. The team won the Appalachian League East Division by a game and went on to the play in the Appalachian League championship after winning a series over the Elizabethton Twins. In the third and deciding game of the series, Meyer came out on top as the winning pitcher of the game.

Meyer pitched for 5 1/3 innings before getting pulled from the game. He had seven strikeouts. The win was Meyer’s lone win of the playoffs for the team, but capped off a good first season for the rookie from Ashland University.

The season started off slow for Meyer after quickly getting into the flow of the game with the Blue Jays. Meyer started out 0-2 with the team, posting ERAs of 6 and 5.45 in his first two starts.

After getting into the rotation, Meyer went on a winning streak, winning four games as a starting pitcher and putting up two of his best games against the Pulaski Mariners and the Greeneville Astros. In the game against the Mariners he pitched for six innings, giving up only one earned run and striking out seven to earn an ERA of 3.29 for the game.

In the game against the Astros Meyer once again shined, only giving up one earned run again in five and two-thirds of an inning with seven more strikeouts to post an ERA of 2.97.

In those two games the Bluefield Blue Jays won 11-2 and 5-2 with Meyer doing well to close out the season.

While the Blue Jays went on to the championship series, they lost both games. One noticeable aspect of the series though, was that Ajay Meyer didn’t play in either game.

The season in general was a success for the rookie pitcher out of Ashland and even led to Meyer being moved up to continue to play this season. Meyer was called up to the Class A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, the Vancouver Canadians.

Although a late addition to the Canadians, Meyer did make an impact. In the lone game he pitched for the squad, Game 1 of the Northwest League Championship Series, Meyer threw for five innings recording five strikeouts on his way to a win over the Tri-City Dust Devils.

With his contribution, Meyer and the Vancouver Canadians were able to celebrate in winning the Northwest League title.

While coming up just short of winning a Rookie League title, Ajay Meyer ended up with something sweeter: The Class A Northwest League Championship. Meyer’s hard work paid off with a title to celebrate at the end of his first professional season of baseball. With this only being the beginning, and having the potential to only get better, Ajay Meyer has a bright future.