Gilbert Allen "Gil" Meche [MESH] (born September 8, 1978 in Lafayette, Louisiana) is a right-handed pitcher for the Kansas City Royals. Meche previously pitched for the Seattle Mariners.
Meche was a member of the U.S. Junior Olympic team in 1995. During his senior season at Acadiana High school, Meche suffered from a viral infection that caused him to miss a considerable amount of time playing baseball. Because of his tremendous potential, Meche was still chosen in the 1st round of the amateur draft. His first Major League game was on July 6, , against the Anaheim Angels, making him the second youngest debut for the Mariners at that time .
His season was cut short due to what was thought at the time to be a dead arm. In February of , he 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 . Unfortunately things were more severe, and he had to undergo surgery again on October 3, on his right AC joint . He was forced to miss the entire 2001 and MLB seasons.
He made his return in to professional baseball on April 5, .
On December 7, , Meche and the Royals agreed on a 5-year contract worth $55 million, which matches Mike Sweeney's contract as the largest in club history .
On July 1, , Gil Meche was selected to his first All-Star game as an AL reserve for the 2007 MLB All-Star Game on July 10 in San Francisco, although he did not pitch in the game. It has been reported that he will be the Kansas City Royals opening day starter for the second day in a row (as reported by manager Trey Hillman).
