Reds Prospects Gain Experience on WBC Stage Before Triple-A Season

Before a single Triple-A inning appears on his résumé, Ryjeteri Merite was already facing professional hitters with international stakes on the line.

The 20-year-old left-hander, who has never pitched in a minor league game above the Dominican Summer League, made his first career start for the Netherlands in World Baseball Classic pool play, taking the mound against Israel in the Netherlands' final tournament game on a Tuesday night in early March. It was his second WBC appearance overall; his first came out of the bullpen against Venezuela, where he threw a shutout inning and faced four major league hitters.

Against Israel, Merite opened with command and composure. He retired big leaguers Spencer Horwitz and Harrison Bader on ground outs in the first inning, then struck out RJ Schreck to end the frame. Schreck spent most of his 2025 season in Triple-A and posted an .854 OPS. Merite carried that rhythm into the second, inducing a ground out from Zach Levenson, who logged Double-A time in 2025 with an .834 OPS, before Cole Carrigg flew out to center. Five consecutive outs to start a WBC game, against opponents whose collective experience dwarfs anything Merite has encountered in the DSL.

The only blemish came after those five straight outs, when Merite walked Noah Medlinger, a hitter who split time between Double-A and Triple-A in 2025 and drew more walks than strikeouts. The free pass proved costly. Jake Gelof followed with a run-scoring double, and that plate appearance ended Merite's day.

Israel's lineup lacked the star power of Venezuela's, but every hitter in it carried more professional experience than the young Reds prospect standing on the mound. The context makes the five-out stretch particularly notable for a pitcher whose entire professional background sits at the entry level of the minor league ladder.

With WBC pool play now complete and teams dispersing back to their spring training and minor league destinations, the performance goes into the record for Cincinnati's player development staff to evaluate as the Triple-A season approaches. Several Reds prospects used the WBC stage for exactly this kind of accelerated exposure, and Merite's outing offered a specific data point: a DSL arm, tested against upper-level competition, retiring professional hitters before the calendar even turns to a full minor league season.