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Todd Olszewski

Baseball By David Driver/Special Correspondent

RADFORD'S MEISINGER PART OF REBUILD WITH ORIOLES



Editor's note: David Driver is a free-lance writer from Harrisonburg who has covered
the Orioles for more than 25 years. He has contributed to Baseball America, MLB.com
and other publications. He can be reached at www.davidsdriver.com

BALTIMORE – As a young boy Ryan Meisinger got rides with his parents and other family members to watch the Orioles at Camden Yards.

Radford product Meisinger grew up in Dunkirk, a town of about 2,500 people nearly 50 miles straight south of Baltimore in Calvert County. So it was obviously a huge moment this summer when the right-hander pitcher, while at Triple-A Norfolk in the Orioles system, found out he was going to the majors for the first time.

"I was in Norfolk and it was after a game and (manager) Ron Johnson pulled me into his office," said Meisinger, standing by his locker at Camden Yards late this season. "I was really excited. I called my parents and they were ecstatic. I drove up (to Baltimore) the next morning."

Meisinger is one of several young pitchers who will be part of the Orioles rebuilding effort, which began in earnest earlier this month when the team fired manager Buck Showalter, whose late grandfather was from southwest Virginia, and general manager Dan Duquette.

For now the person in charge on an interim basis Brian Graham, who knows all about Meisinger and other young pitchers since he has been the director of player development for the club.

Graham is a former interim general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates and has been with the Orioles since 2007.

Meisinger was a reliever in the minor leagues and made his big league debut June 29 out of the bullpen. He became the fourth former Radford Highlander to appear in the majors leagues, joining three other pitchers: Eddie Butler (2014-18), Ryan Speier (2005-09) and Phil Leftwich (1993-96). Butler pitched this season for the Cubs and Rangers.

Meisinger was pressed into starting duty for the Orioles on September 26 in Boston against the powerful Red Sox and gave up five earned runs while only getting one out in the first inning.

"There's some guys, whether it's Meisinger or (John) Means or (Cody) Carroll, that the presentation right now it not what it's going to be. There's better days ahead (for) those guys," Showalter said of the young pitchers.

Meisinger began this season with the Double-A Bowie (MD) Baysox in the Eastern League, and posted a mark of 0-0 with a 4.42 ERA in 11 relief outings. At Norfolk he was 2-0, 2.28 in 21 games out of the bullpen this year.

This year with the Orioles he was 2-1 with an ERA of 6.43 in 18 games.

The Maryland native is a classic story of a small-town success.

He was born in Prince Frederick, Maryland and coming out of Northern High School in Owings he attracted attention from just a few Division I schools, including Navy, Delaware, Maryland and James Madison since his fastball was just in the mid-80s.

Thanks to a showcase run by Jerry Wargo, a baseball legend in southern Maryland, Meisinger got on the radar of the coaching staff at Radford.

He was a standout for the Highlanders of the Big South Conference and was drafted in the 11th round in 2015 by the Orioles. The scout that signed him was Rich Morales, who lives in Blacksburg, Virginia.

So does Meisinger have a chip on his shoulder coming from a small school?

"I guess that is an easy thing to say," he said. "If you have made it here you have earned it. It is definitely exciting coming from a small town growing up and then I went to a small school."

When he first came to the Orioles he was able to talk pitching with relievers Brad Brach and Zach Britton, who were later traded to the Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees, respectively, in late July.

When Meisinger, 24, came back to the big league team after an injury he able to get advice from veteran pitchers such as Andrew Cashner, Mychal Givens and Michael Wright. Baltimore lost a franchise record 115 games this year.

There will be plenty of opportunities for new pitchers such as Meisinger to seize a big league job in 2019 with the Orioles. He plans to live in Richmond this winter and work out with Mark McQueen, his former pitching coach at Radford and an ex-coach at VCU and the University of Richmond.

"I am learning stuff every day," Meisinger said. "I am trying not to make the same mistake twice. I have a lot of guys to work with."
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Players Mentioned

Eddie Butler

#30 Eddie Butler

RHP
6' 2"
Freshman
S/R

Players Mentioned

Eddie Butler

#30 Eddie Butler

6' 2"
Freshman
S/R
RHP
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