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Ryan Merritt
Starting Pitcher | Halifax Oilers
Pitching The bottom also falls out of his very good changeup. His curveball is solid; he throws it better than your average starter. Merritt can get into trouble with walks, and there's concern about him being able to maintain his stuff over the whole season. His fastball is just average, and therefore he relies heavily on placing it in different parts of the strike zone or setting it up with his curveball. He generates few groundballs, though he keeps the ball in the park. He's almost as effective against lefthanders as he is versus righthanders.
Defense & Hitting He's reasonably quick to the plate but needs to vary his pickoff moves. Good baserunners appeared to time him last year. He hurts himself by falling awkwardly off the mound in his follow-through, which allows too many balls to go through the middle for base hits. Merritt is a surpisingly good hitting pitcher. And I'm not sure you can say this about a pitcher, but Merritt has some pop in his swing.
2025 Outlook Merritt performance in AAA is making it difficult for the Halifax Oilers to ignore him much longer. Expect his name to be on the September call-up list. I really like what this kid brings to the table.
-- Emu Nyman, AA/AAA Scout
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