After earning All-Big 12 honors during the 2025 season and bolstering his reputation as one of the best relief pitchers in the league, one West Virginia baseball returner has garnered some preseason attention.
Junior Chase Meyer was recently named a Preseason First-Team All-American by Over-Slot Baseball . Posting a 3.94 ERA over 48 innings, with a 9-2 record, Meyer showcased an elite-level curveball in his sophomore season last year, and has drawn plenty of attention for those efforts. The junior right-handed pitcher tallied 63 strikeouts over his 48 innings pitched in 2025.
Well-earned recognition for 99!#HailWV | @chasemeyer124 pic.twitter.com/SmrxkQIeNX
— WVU Baseball (@WVUBaseball) January 20, 2026
Chase Meyer's curveball is easily one of the best pitches in the draft from its raw shape alone. He's able to get 15 inches of depth on it at a mid-80s velo, making it an outlier among outliers.
— Over-Slot Baseball (@OverSlot_) January 20, 2026
Read about him and four other outlier curveballs below 👇pic.twitter.com/PExwOuWCMJ
Chase Meyer Poised For Massive Season With West Virginia Mountaineers After All-American Honors
Meyer made 22 appearances and three starts last season for the Mountaineers, earning a 1.65 strikeout-to-walk ratio and playing a significant role as a relief pitcher.
Meyer held opposing hitters to just a .192 batting average. His command was shaky at times, allowing 38 walks and 12 hit-by-pitches. Despite his struggles with command, Meyer still posted good numbers as a premier arm out of the bullpen for head coach Steve Sabins. Sabins, in first year as the head coach of the Mountaineers, relied on Meyer and senior Reese Bassinger as the two primary arms in late-game scenarios for WVU.
Returning for his third season at WVU, Meyer will be a pitcher that many scouts at the next level will continue to monitor in his third collegiate season. Should Meyer decide to enter the 2026 MLB Draft, the right-hander from Daytona Beach will surely be one of the first handful of collegiate relievers taken in the 2026 MLB Draft.
For the upcoming season, if the Mountaineers are looking to defend their regular-season Big 12 title, Meyer and the rest of the bullpen will need to play a big part in that. Losing arms like Griffin Kirn, Robby Porco, Jack Kartsonas, and Gavin Van Kempen leads to a challenge of who will replace them in the rotation and the bullpen. But one of the luxuries that Sabins does have is the right-handed arm of Meyer waiting in the Mountaineer bullpen, ready to go.