St. Paul – Julian Merryweather was one of the more intriguing veteran pitchers the Minnesota Twins brought in on a Minor League deal in spring training. Then after one appearance, he wasn’t on the mound again for the rest of camp.
He had pulled his left hamstring in camp and was placed on the 7-day injured list as camp was wrapping up. Merriweather sat out a month before beginning a rehab assignment on May 5. He got into two games before he was pulled off the rehab assignment, and it left many people wondering, what happened?
“Unfortunately, it turned into a couple of reinjuries on it, just kept picking the scab,” Merryweather said. “[I] was getting really close each time and then having to start over, so that was the frustrating part, but we’re totally back now and feeling good.”
The reaggravation in the hamstring injury wasn’t anything that happened in his second rehab appearance with the Florida Complex Twins on May 12. It flared up off the field in between outings, when he was getting work done in the weight room.
The setback was nothing new to Julian Merryweather. He’s been on the IL multiple times with oblique injuries and Tommy John surgery, which he had back in 2018. He’s dealt with the mental hurdles that come with it many times before, so that was less of an issue for the 34-year-old pitcher. As is the case with many players who spend months on the IL, Merryweather was itching to get back into game action.
“I compare it to the zoo,” said Merryweather. “It’s not your natural environment; you’ve got to get used to that. But then eventually, you want to be back in the wild, back in our normal environment. Mentally, we do a lot better there; physically, I think we do as well.”
Despite being at the Fort Myers complex longer than anticipated, Merryweather spent plenty of time with Minnesota’s young pitchers in the Complex League.
Rehabbing players aren’t required to stick around for the full nine innings of a game if they’re not scheduled to play in all of them. Despite that, Merryweather did so at the complex. Minnesota’s young players in the Complex League, who were getting their pro-ball careers started, took notice.
“He’s awesome with the younger guys,” Saints pitching coach Ryan Meisinger said, who was still coaching for the FCL Twins during Merryweather’s rehab. “He was even helping out 18-year-olds down there and watching bullpens when he didn’t have to. He has five or six years in the big leagues. We don’t ask them to do that, but we encourage it.”
Merryweather’s second hamstring flare-up kept him off a rehab assignment until the Fourth of July. Since then, he’s started to return to his old self. Merryweather made six rehab appearances with the complex team and Low-A Fort Myers, posting a 2.84 ERA over 6 ⅓ innings, walking one batter and striking out 10. Once he hit each objective, he returned to the Saints on Tuesday.
“[The] Twins have been great. I mean, they’ve been very good from the medical side,” Merryweather said. “I think the fact that it was a reinjury was no reflection on them at all. It’s just, things happen; it’s baseball. When you go at a high intensity, things tend to fall apart at times. I always felt like the Twins had my back. They had my best interest at heart, so really felt like it was a good pick.”
“He gravitated towards me. He’s awesome to work with, very intelligent. He really works on his craft. He knows what makes him good, which always helps with players. So really just tweaking very minor things and down there, getting him healthy was the main thing,” Meisinger said.
One of the benefits Merryweather had spending so much time at the Twins complex in Fort Myers was getting an early introduction to the Saints’ new pitching coach, Meisinger. Merryweather missed playing alongside Meisinger in the Chicago Cubs organization by a season. So, until they became acquainted this spring, Merryweather wasn’t aware of Meisinger’s playing days.
“I wouldn’t have to say you have to be an ex-player to be a coach, but it helps with a lot of the little things, especially in the bullpen,” said Merryweather. “There’s a lot more out of your control, and it takes someone who’s been there and done that to understand that, and then it goes a long way with players because he knows. He’s been there, too.
“I think there’s just that common bond of someone who’s been there, done that. That always helps, and having relationships with people, other orgs, coaches, similar coaches. His pitching coach, Tommy Hottovy, was my pitching coach, and I love my time. It was a short time, but I really, really think highly of Tommy. So just building relationships off of experience is really the biggest thing.”
With two months left on the season, Merryweather is looking to do all he can to cash in his opportunity in the Twins organization. The Twins have rotated through 29 different pitchers on the major league roster through July 23, so there’s still a good chance he could pitch in the majors before the year is over.
But for now, Julian Merryweather is focused on being present. If good results continue to show up on the mound, he’ll get another major league opportunity.
“Now it’s just going out there and letting whatever happens. All the preparation, all the stuff that I’ve been working on, just let it play out on the field, and wherever that takes me, it takes me.”
