Gil Meche

Gilbert Allen Meche (/ɡɪl mɛʃ/; born September 8, 1978) is an American former right-handed Major League Baseball starting pitcher. Meche pitched for the Seattle Mariners for six seasons. With the Kansas City Royals, Meche made three straight Opening Day starts and was an All Star in 2007. Shoulder and back problems caused the former first-round pick to retire in 2011 at just 32 years old.

Meche, who is Cajun, was a star pitcher at Acadiana High School in his hometown of Lafayette, Louisiana, and was a member of the U.S. Junior Olympic team that won the gold medal in the 1995 World Junior Baseball Championship. After his junior year of high school, Meche earned most valuable pitcher honors at the 1995 National Amateur All-Star Tournament at just sixteen years old. However, shortly afterwards, he suffered a viral infection that caused him to miss a considerable amount of playing time his senior year. Nonetheless, Meche was named to the All-America Second Team by the American Baseball Coaches Association and Rawlings. He intended to attend Louisiana State University, but reconsidered when the Seattle Mariners surprised him by selecting him in the first round (22nd overall) of the 1996 Major League Baseball draft.

Meche debuted with the Mariners on July 6, 1999, two months shy of his twenty-first birthday, making him the second-youngest debut for the Mariners at that time (only Ken Griffey Jr. was younger). Pitching with a 2–1 lead over the Anaheim Angels and two outs in the sixth, Meche walked two consecutive batters to force in a run and surrender the lead. He ended up with a no-decision. On July 19, Meche allowed three earned runs in seven innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks, earning his first major league win in Seattle's 7–5 victory. For the season, Meche went 8–4 with a 4.73 earned run average (ERA) in 16 games (15 starts).

Meche lost his first four decisions of the 2000 season. On June 13, 2000, in a game shortened by rain, he tossed a five-inning, one-hit shutout against the Kansas City Royals. After coming back to go 4–0 with a 2.64 ERA through his July 4 start against Anaheim, Meche was lifted in the sixth inning having thrown 113 pitches. His season was cut short due to what was thought at the time to be a dead arm. He went 1–2 with a 3.15 ERA in five rehab starts, but did not pitch at the major league level again for the rest of the season. At the major league level, Meche was 4–4 with a 3.78 ERA in 15 starts with Seattle.

In February 2001, Meche underwent arthroscopic surgery to partially repair a frayed rotator cuff, and at the time he was expected to only be on the disabled list for six months. As it turns out, he ended up missing the entire season, and undergoing surgery again on October 3, 2001, on his right AC joint. Meche returned to pitching in 2002 for the Double-A San Antonio Missions of the Texas League, and went 4–6 with a 6.51 ERA in 25 games (13 starts).

Meche officially returned to the Mariners on April 5, 2003. Despite giving up four first inning runs, and taking the loss against the Texas Rangers, Meche came back to pitch four solid innings in which he allowed just two earned runs on solo shots by Iván Rodríguez and Juan González. From there, Meche went 15–13 with a 4.59 ERA in 32 starts and 186+1⁄3 innings pitched. He went on to earn the Sporting News' American League Comeback Player of the Year Award at the end of the season.

Meche's 2004 season got off to a slow start as his record stood at 1–5 with a 7.06 ERA following a June 1 start against the Toronto Blue Jays. He was optioned to the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League after the game. He returned to the M's on July 30, and proceeded to go 6–2 with a 3.95 ERA in 13 second-half starts. On September 12, Meche tossed his first career nine-inning shutout against the Boston Red Sox. Overall, Meche finished 7–7 with a 5.01 ERA in 22 starts.

On January 13, 2005, Meche signed a one-year, $2.54 million contract with the Mariners to avoid arbitration. In 2005, Meche posted a winning record of 10–8, but had an ERA of 5.09 in 29 games (26 starts). He pitched 143+1⁄3 innings, and averaged less than six innings in over half of his starts.