Wade Jameson Meckler (born April 21, 2000) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball at Oregon State University. Meckler was drafted by the Giants in the eighth round of the

2022 MLB draft The 2022 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft took place on July 17–19, 2022, in Los Angeles. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The draft order was based on the reverse order of the 2021 M ...

, and made his MLB debut with them the following year.

Early life

Meckler was born in Anaheim, California, the son of Laura and Brian Meckler, and has a brother, Wyatt. His mother played college volleyball at San José State University. His hometown is

Yorba Linda, California Yorba Linda is a suburban city in northeastern Orange County, California, United States, approximately southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. It is part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and had a population of 68,336 at the 2020 census. Yor ...

High school

Meckler attended

Esperanza High School Esperanza High School (EHS) is a public high school located in Anaheim, California and is part of the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District. It is a California Distinguished School and is home to various California Interscholastic Feder ...

in Anaheim. As a high school freshman, he was tall (the shortest kid in the school) and weighed 75 pounds (34 kilograms); he barely made the freshman baseball team. As a sophomore, he weighed 100 pounds. In his junior season Meckler batted .301 with 17 runs and 11

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s. As a senior, by which time he was and 145 pounds, he batted .375 with 28 runs. He played third base, second base, shortstop, and outfield. He was a two-time All-League All-Academic selection, and was ranked in the top 500 players nationally by Perfect Game. Throughout high school he had a 4.4 GPA, and he was a Collegiate Scholar and earned the Golden State Award. He graduated with honors, was an AP Scholar with Distinction, and scored 1470 on his SAT. He did not receive a scholarship offer from any NCAA Division I or Division II programs.

College

Meckler played college baseball as a

walk-on Walk On may refer to: Music * ''Walk On'', a 1994 album by Boston, and its title song Albums * ''Walk On'' (Boston album), 1994 * ''Walk On'' (John Hiatt album), 1995 * ''Walk On'' (Randy Johnston album), 1992 *''Walk On'', a 2007 album by ...

at Oregon State University while majoring in finance. He never received a scholarship from the school. He was cut from the baseball team after his freshman year in 2019 in which he had one hit in only 10

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s, by new coach Mitch Canham, and did not make the team in 2020. Meckler rejoined the team in 2021. In 2021 with Oregon State he batted .303/.396/.472 in 142 at bats, playing 21 games in right field and 15 games in left field, playing most of the season with a

hamstring injury Straining of the hamstring, also known as a pulled hamstring, is defined as an excessive stretch or tear of muscle fibers and related tissues. Hamstring injuries are common in athletes participating in many sports. Track and field athletes are ...

. In 2022 with Oregon State he batted

leadoff In baseball, a lead or lead off is the short distance that a player stands away from their current base. On the bases In baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batti ...

and hit .347/.456(4th in the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

/.478, leading the conference with 81 runs and 23 doubles, with 12 stolen bases, and 53 walks (3rd) vs. 49 strikeouts in 268 at bats while playing 50 games in left field and seven games in right field. He was named All-Pac-12 First Team, Corvallis Regional All-Tournament Team,

CoSIDA College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) is an organization that focuses on professional development and support for sports information directors at all levels. It offers awards, scholarships, and grants in support of SIDs and pros ...

Academic All-District 8, and was named '' Collegiate Baseball'' National Player of the Week on April 25. In his college career, he batted .326/.435/.467 in 420 at bats while on defense he had a 1.000

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

in 134 chances.

Professional career

Minor leagues

Meckler was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the eighth round of the

2022 Major League Baseball Draft The 2022 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft took place on July 17–19, 2022, in Los Angeles. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The draft order was based on the reverse order of the 2021 ...

. He signed for a below-slot

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $97,500. Meckler made his professional debut with the rookie–level Arizona Complex League Giants, with whom he batted .290/.460/.395 in 38 at bats playing nine games in

center field A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the Baseball positions, baseball and softball fielding position between Left fielder, left field and Right fielder, right field. In the numberi ...

, two in left field, and one in right field. He was then promoted to the Single–A San Jose Giants in the

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

with whom he batted .439/.540/.683 in 41 at bats, playing 11 games in left field and two games in center field. He started 2023 with the High–A Eugene Emeralds of the Northwest League, with whom Meckler batted .456/.494/.633 in 79 at bats, playing 10 games in right field, six in left field, and three in center field. He was promoted to the Double–A Richmond Flying Squirrels of the Eastern League during the season with whom he batted .336/.431/.450 in 149 at bats, playing 17 games in center field, 11 games in left field, and nine games in right field. He was then promoted to the Triple–A Sacramento RiverCats of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

on July 31 where he was 3.7 years younger than the average player, and batted .400/.546/.600 in 25 at bats, playing four games in right field and three in left field before he was promoted to the major leagues. ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

'' tabbed him the Giants organization hitter with the best strike zone discipline.

Major leagues

On August 14, 2023, Meckler 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, and ...

and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. He made his major league debut with the Giants the same day, only 13 months after being drafted. On September 6, Meckler was optioned back to Sacramento. Meckler was optioned to Triple–A Sacramento to begin the 2024 season.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meckler, Wade Living people 2000 births Arizona Complex League Giants players Baseball players from Anaheim, California Duluth Huskies players Eugene Emeralds players Major League Baseball outfielders Oregon State Beavers baseball players Richmond Flying Squirrels players Sacramento River Cats players San Francisco Giants players San Jose Giants players