Jonathan Michael Meloan (born July 11, 1984) is a former

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

in professional baseball. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

and

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

Early life

He was an academic all-district honoree at

James E. Taylor High School James E. Taylor High School (THS) is a public high school in unincorporated area, unincorporated Harris County, Texas, in Greater Katy. The school, in Nottingham Country, which serves grades 9 through 12, is part of Katy Independent School Distr ...

Katy, Texas Katy is a city in the U.S. state of Texas within the Greater Katy area, itself forming the western part of the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Homes and businesses may have Katy postal addresses without being in the City of Katy. The city of ...

. Meloan is also a member of the National Honor Society. Meloan is an alumnus of the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

, where he was a perfect 10–0 in 11 starts in , in leading the Wildcats to the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

. In three seasons with Arizona, he compiled a record of 24–4 in 30 starts. In 2003, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

in the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox.

Professional career

Los Angeles Dodgers

He was drafted by the

in the 5th round of the

2005 Major League Baseball draft The 2005 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 7 and 8. It was conducted via conference call with representatives from each of the league's 30 teams. It is widely considered to be one of the best ...

and made his professional debut for the

Ogden Raptors The Ogden Raptors are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Ogden, Utah and play their home games at Lindquist Field. Pitche ...

in mid-season, going 0-2, 3.69

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

in 16 appearances, 6 of them as a starter. Primarily a starter in college, he was converted to a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

at Ogden. His maximum-effort delivery and his 92–94 mph

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. "Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thro ...

with a pair of

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

breaking balls led to his consideration as a closer. In , he saw action with the

Columbus Catfish The Columbus Catfish were a minor league baseball team in Columbus, Georgia. They were a Class A team in the South Atlantic League, and were an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays for the 2007 and 2008 seasons. The Catfish relocated to Bowling Green, ...

Vero Beach Dodgers Vero may refer to: Geography * Vero Beach, Florida, a city in the United States * Vero, Corse-du-Sud, a commune of France in Corsica Other * '' Véro'', a talk show on the Radio-Canada television network * Vero (app), a social media company co-fou ...

and

Jacksonville Suns The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are located in Jacksonville, Florida, and are named for shrimp caught in the area. The team pla ...

. For the season, Meloan began the year with Double-A Jacksonville, compiling a 5–2 record with a terrific 2.18 ERA in 35 relief appearances and notching 19 saves to be selected to the Southern League All-Star team. He won the post-season "Double-A Relief Pitcher of the Year" Award. After the all-star break, he was promoted to Triple-A

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

and he was recalled to the Dodgers on September 1, 2007. He made his Major League debut for the Dodgers that night against the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

, working two innings of relief. He wound up pitching in five games for the Dodgers after his September callup, working 7.1 innings and finishing with an 11.05 ERA. On July 26, , Meloan was traded to the

along with minor league

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound featured ...

for

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

Casey Blake William Casey Blake (born August 23, 1973) is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, and Los Angeles Dodge ...

Cleveland Indians

On July 26, , Meloan was traded to the

along with minor league

for

. In 2009, Meloan had pitched 44 innings in Triple-A (for the

Columbus Clippers The Columbus Clippers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They are located in Columbus, Ohio, and are named for speedy Merchant ship, mercha ...

) compiling a 0-0 record, with one save in 25 appearances with a 5.52 ERA before being traded on July 2, 2009. He was traded to the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

for pitcher

Winston Abreu Winston Leonardo Abreu Soler (born April 5, 1977) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. At age 16, he was signed by the Atlanta Braves as a minor league free agent on July 2, 1993. He bats and throws right-handed. He played in Majo ...

Tampa Bay Rays

On July 2, 2009, he was traded to the

for pitcher

. Meloan 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 Rays on August 7,

Pittsburgh Pirates

Meloan was claimed off waivers by the Pirates on August 12, 2009. On August 31, 2009 he was again designated for assignment.Pirates call up RH McCutchen to start vs Reds
''usatoday.com''

Oakland Athletics

He was claimed off waivers by the

on September 2, 2009. After missing all of the season due to

Tommy John Thomas Edward John Jr. (born May 22, 1943), nicknamed "The Bionic Man," is an American retired professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 26 seasons between 1963 and 1989. He played for the Cleveland Indians, ...

Surgery Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...

, Meloan Rehabed at Kansas City Sports Rehabilitation & Physical Therapy and was outrighted to Triple-A

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

. The A's released Meloan in October 2011.

2012

Meloan agreed to sign with the Texas Rangers on March 3, 2012, but the Rangers released Meloan on March 31, before he could play a game in the organization. Meloan started the 2012 season with the

Long Island Ducks The Long Island Ducks are an American professional minor-league baseball team based on Long Island in Central Islip, New York. The Ducks compete in the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), an independent "partne ...

. The Yankees signed Meloan in June 2012. He then returned to the Long Island Ducks in 2014.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meloan, Jon Baseball players from Texas People from Katy, Texas Major League Baseball pitchers Los Angeles Dodgers players Cleveland Indians players Oakland Athletics players Ogden Raptors players Columbus Catfish players Vero Beach Dodgers players Jacksonville Suns players Las Vegas 51s players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Sacramento River Cats players Columbus Clippers players Durham Bulls players Indianapolis Indians players Midland RockHounds players Long Island Ducks players 1984 births Living people Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees players Sportspeople from Harris County, Texas Trenton Thunder players Mesa Solar Sox players Caribes de Anzoátegui players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox players Arizona Wildcats baseball players