MORGANTOWN — West Virginia baseball coach Steve Sabins revealed some troubling news regarding his top pitcher.
Recently announced preseason All-Big 12 pitcher Chase Meyer is three to four weeks behind schedule after he broke a finger on his throwing hand around Thanksgiving break, according to Sabins.
“Now he’s building up, but he’s probably, I hate to use the word behind, but just from a scheduling standpoint and a build-up standpoint, he’s probably three or four weeks behind the rest of the pitching staff,” Sabins said. “But he’s in a great spot.”
Meyer is WVU’s best returning pitcher. He appeared in 22 games and started in three of them. Meyer had a 9-2 record and posted a 3.94 ERA with a save. In 48 innings, Meyer struck out 63 batters. He was listed as the 64th top prospect in the 2026 MLB Draft, according to D1 Baseball.
Meyer was clocked at 97 miles per hour down in South Carolina to start February, but he’s only throwing a max of 30 pitches at the moment. If Meyer pitches in the first couple of weeks, he’ll be coming out of the bullpen, but once he’s fully healthy, Meyer could be a starter, a relief pitcher or the team’s closer, depending on needs.
“He’ll be coming out of the bullpen early this season, just because he’s probably at a two-inning, maybe three-innings max, depending on how efficient he is early on here,” Sabins said. “But he’s capable of anything he wants to do if he competes well and throws strikes.”
WVU has a lot of pitching depth to fill in for Meyer, while he’s slowly building up to go the distance. The Mountaineers brought in a trio of Division II transfers, and Newberry transfer Chansen Cole is expected to start the season opener on Friday, Feb. 13, against Georgia Southern. WVU has other new arms joining the staff from the portal and through the 2026 freshman class as well.
