James Henry Meeker III (born March 22, 1995) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

Staten Island FerryHawks The Staten Island FerryHawks are an American minor-league professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Staten Island. They are a member of the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner league ...

of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, and the headquarters are l ...

. He has previously played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

Career

Amateur career

Meeker attended

North Allegheny Senior High School North Allegheny Senior High School (NASH) is a suburban high school in the North Allegheny School District and is located in Wexford, Pennsylvania, a northern suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The current building was built in 1974. In 2013, ...

Wexford, Pennsylvania Wexford is an unincorporated community in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a suburb in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area split across the incorporated places of Franklin Park, McCandless, Pine Township and Marshall Township ...

. He attended the

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public university, public research university in Akron, Ohio, United States. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM fields, STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advance ...

to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

Akron Zips The Akron Zips are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio, United States. The Zips compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division I, Division I level as a memb ...

. When Akron ended their baseball program, he transferred to the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

to play for the

Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens are the athletic teams of the University of Delaware (UD) of Newark, Delaware, in the United States. The Blue Hens compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of Division I of the National Collegiat ...

Washington Wild Things

Meeker was not selected in the

2018 MLB Draft The 2018 Major League Baseball draft began on June 4, 2018. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was determined based on the reverse order of the 2017 MLB season final standings. In addition, compensation pi ...

and signed with the Washington Wild Things of the

Frontier League The Frontier League (FL; French: ''Ligue Frontière'', LF) is a professional baseball league in North America composed of 18 teams – 15 in the United States and 3 in Canada. The FL is one of the eight independent baseball leagues in North Ame ...

on June 20, 2018. He made 19 appearances on the year, recording a 3.94 ERA with 26 strikeouts across innings pitched. In 2019, Meeker appeared in 40 games for Washington, compiling a 3.17 ERA with 57 strikeouts across 54 innings pitched. In 2020, after the Frontier League season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Meeker played for the Steel City Slammin' Slammers of the Washington League. He made eight scoreless appearances for the club, striking out 12 across innings. Meeker returned to the Wild Things in 2021, making 30 appearances and remarkably tossing scoreless innings with 43 strikeouts.

Milwaukee Brewers

On August 14, 2021, Meeker's contract was purchased by the

organization. He finished the year with the Single–A

Carolina Mudcats The Carolina Mudcats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Zebulon, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh, and play their home games ...

, posting an 0.50 ERA with 25 strikeouts and 5 saves in 12 appearances. Meeker spent the 2022 campaign with the High–A

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Grand Chute, Wisconsin, a town on the outskirts of Appleton in the Fox Cities, and are nam ...

, also making two scoreless appearances for the Double–A

Biloxi Shuckers The Biloxi Shuckers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League (1964–present), Southern League and the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Biloxi, Mississippi, and are named in ref ...

. In 42 games for Wisconsin, he registered a 2.45 ERA with 57 strikeouts and 17 saves across innings of work. Meeker spent the majority of 2023 with Biloxi, also making two appearances for the Triple–A

Nashville Sounds The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the ci ...

. In 34 games for Biloxi, he accumulated an 8–4 record and 3.13 ERA with 80 strikeouts across 89 innings pitched. Meeker began 2024 with Biloxi, and was promoted to Nashville after four scoreless appearances. Pitching in 14 games for Nashville, he logged a 3.48 ERA with 20 strikeouts across innings. On June 7, 2024, Meeker was selected to the

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. In his debut, he tossed a scoreless inning, allowing one hit and issuing one walk with no strikeouts. On June 11, Meeker was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must, within seven days, return the pla ...

by the Brewers. He cleared waivers and was sent outright to Nashville on June 15. Meeker was released by the Brewers organization on October 8.

Staten Island FerryHawks

On April 15, 2025, Meeker signed with the

of the

References

External links

Akron Zips bioDelaware Fightin' Blue Hens bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meeker, James Living people 1995 births Akron Zips baseball players Baseball players from Essex County, New Jersey Biloxi Shuckers players 21st-century American sportsmen Brisbane Bandits players Carolina Mudcats players Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Milwaukee Brewers players Nashville Sounds players Washington Wild Things players Wisconsin Timber Rattlers players