BELOIT — ”With any luck, we’ll be drafted to the same team.”
It was a simple, somewhat cheeky text that Major League Baseball prospect Noble Meyer sent over shortly before the 2023 MLB Draft to fellow MLB candidate Thomas White, who he had met and exchanged information with at the pre-draft combine.
Little did both recent high school graduates know that it was the beginning of a great partnership.
That summer, Meyer was taken 10th overall in the MLB Draft by the Miami Marlins and Thomas White was the organization’s next pick at 35th overall with his selection in the competitive balance round.
The two started rookie ball together with the FCL Marlins on July 31, and by August 17 Meyer was already with the Low-A Jupiter Hammerheads. Less than two weeks later, White joined his teammate.
The duo started the 2024 season in Jupiter and both were promoted to High-A Beloit on May 28.
If you’re keeping count, that’s just about 13 days that the now 19-year olds, who are about four months apart, have spent apart from each other.
And that won’t change over the All-Star break as Meyer and White head to Arlington, Texas together to take part in the MLB All-Star Futures Game at Globe Life Field on Saturday.
“We got pulled into the manager’s office, and our pitching coach (Jason Erickson) and our manager (Billy Gardner Jr.) told us that we got invited,” Meyer said. “It’s super exciting because I got a chance to watch it last year at the draft. And I watched fellow Jesuit (High School out of Portland, Oregon) alum Mick Abel pitch in it. So, it really shocked me that I’d be playing in it just a year later.”
“It’s a huge blessing and a huge accomplishment,” White said. “I was really happy that I got picked to represent Miami. It’s going to be a really great and humbling experience.”
The two will play on a squad filled with 25 up-and-coming star players from around the NL. They will face the American League team, which also is filled with 25 minor league players, as a part of All-Star weekend at the Rangers’ home stadium.
The event will give Meyer and White a chance to compete with other top-tier players from around the minor leagues, with players coming from every level.
“It’s amazing to be considered a future star of the MLB,” Meyer said. “And to get a chance to play against guys considered in that same category? It’s a pretty high honor.”
And it is a well-deserved appointment as the duo have quickly ascended up the Marlins’ farm system.
Meyer, who is the Marlins’ top prospect according to MLB Pipeline, threw just four innings with the FCL Marlins before making the jump to Jupiter, where he held a 3.86 ERA and nine strikeouts in seven innings to close out the season.
In 34 innings at Jupiter this season, Meyer struck out 43 batters, holding the opposition to a .149 batting average with a 2.65 ERA.
White is ranked No. 2 according to MLB Pipeline. After an unremarkable 10 innings in 2023, he boasted a 3.18 ERA in 34 innings with the Hammerheads this season while striking out 44 opposing players to just 18 walks issued.
“Number one is my command of everything,” White said. “Refining my command and lowering my walk rate was my biggest thing. Just getting the consistency in my mechanics. In the years before, I very inconsistent on how I felt out on the mound. So this year, it was about refining that.”
White, out of the Phillips Academy in Rowley, Massachusetts, has been stellar with the Sky Carp thus far. In 27 innings he holds a 3.00 ERA while holding opposing teams to a .208 average from the plate. He has struck out 37 and allowed only 12 bases on balls.
Meyer missed a pair of starts due to a non-serious injury, but he was back in the rotation in the Sky Carp’s last series against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.
The righty allows just a .145 batting average while striking out 18 batters to eight walks. He posses a 4.41 ERA.
“I’m just going out there to compete,” Meyer said. “I try make it as clean as possible and look dominant. I go out there, give them my best stuff at my spots and let that play out.”
Of course, having someone by your side through the process is a huge help.
Meyer and White found out they had been moved up to Beloit just before a scheduled double-date with their girlfriends down in Florida.
“They were waiting for us in the parking lot and we were like ‘We’re going to be a little bit longer because we have to pack,’” White said.
“We drove all the way up in my car together,” Meyer said. “We knocked out 19 and a half hours all in one day. Left at five, got in at almost one in the morning. We listened to music, slept and Thomas watched (Netflix’s) Blacklist while I was driving.”
White said that the two share tips to make each other better on the mound.
“If he’s struggling with his fastball, I’m a fastball guy, so I can help him out with that,” the lefty said. “And he’s helped me continue to figure out my slider. And Noble knows because he’s came out of high school just like me. So, I can be like, ‘Hey, I’m struggling with this’ and he’ll say ‘Well, maybe it’s this.’”
Meyer added having someone around like White helps make life away from the mound a bit easier to handle, as well.
“It does really help just having somebody my age that’s just a friend,” he said. “I think that’s awesome. Our off-the-field relationship is Thomas talking about his car or about a show we’re watching.”
The two will have plenty of time to talk down in Texas before the Futures game, which will begin at 3 p.m. on Saturday on MLB Network and MLB.TV.
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