Brandon Meredith has 18 regular-season contests left as a junior outfielder for the San Diego State baseball team, but those may be his last games in a SDSU uniform.
Meredith said he could see himself foregoing his senior year at SDSU if he’s drafted high enough.
“Oh yeah, 100 percent I feel like I’m more mature now,” said Meredith, who chose SDSU instead of the MLB out of high school three years ago. “I’m ready and I’m glad I made the decision I did.”
During his senior year at Montgomery High School, Meredith batted .516 and won first-team all-state honors. The accomplishments were enough to get attention as the Tampa Bay Rays drafted him in the 15th round. However, circumstances didn’t go the way he had envisioned and he decided to attend SDSU instead.
“I think I wasn’t ready to go,” Meredith said. “My maturity level wasn’t where it needed to be in order to be out on my own and compete with guys who are top in the world. Also, money and the situation weren’t right. So I decided to come here.”
In his three years as an Aztec, Meredith has proven himself as an offensive threat. During his freshman year, he started 63 games and hit .309 to garner second-team all-Mountain West Conference honors. The following season, Meredith led the league with a .489 batting average and a .575 on-base percentage, earning a first-team all-MWC selection. In 37 games this year, Meredith has batted .256 in 33 starts and scored a team-high 29 runs.
“I believe it’s going to help my draft stock, “ Meredith said of playing three years of college ball. “I’m not really worried about where I get drafted or anything; I’m worried about the season. But I feel that I’ve worked hard and people see that, so it should (help me).”
However, Meredith hasn’t let the pressure of the draft get to him. He said he knows he has to go out there and not let one day be bigger than the next. His coaches have noticed that and aren’t worried about the situation getting in his way.
“I don’t think Brandon’s that type of kid; he just goes out and plays,” assistant coach Mark Martinez said. “At times, I think he’s guilty of trying to carry our club right now. He doesn’t need to do that; he just needs to play his game. He’s never played with that, so we’re not worried about him thinking about professional baseball or getting drafted.”
