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Gilbert Allen Meche (; born September 8, 1978) is an American former right-handed Major League Baseball starting pitcher. Meche pitched for the Seattle Mariners for six seasons. With the Kansas City Royals, Meche made three straight Opening Day starts and was an All Star in 2007. Shoulder and back problems caused the former first-round pick to retire in at just 32 years old.
Meche lost his first four decisions of the season. On June 13, 2000, in a game shortened by rain, he tossed a five-inning, one-hit shutout against the Kansas City Royals. After coming back to go 4–0 with a 2.64 ERA through his July 4 start against Anaheim, Meche was lifted in the sixth inning having thrown 113 pitches. His season was cut short due to what was thought at the time to be a dead arm. He went 1–2 with a 3.15 ERA in five rehab starts, but did not pitch at the major league level again for the rest of the season. At the major league level, Meche was 4–4 with a 3.78 ERA in 15 starts with Seattle.
In February , Meche 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. As it turns out, he ended up missing the entire season, and undergoing surgery again on October 3, 2001, on his right AC joint. Meche returned to pitching in for the Double-A San Antonio Missions of the Texas League, and went 4–6 with a 6.51 ERA in 25 games (13 starts).
Meche officially returned to the Mariners on April 5, . Despite giving up four first inning runs, and taking the loss against the Texas Rangers, Meche came back to pitch four solid innings in which he allowed just two earned runs on solo shots by Iván Rodríguez and Juan González. From there, Meche went 15–13 with a 4.59 ERA in 32 starts and innings pitched. He went on to earn the Sporting News' American League Comeback Player of the Year Award at the end of the season.
Meche's season got off to a slow start as his record stood at 1–5 with a 7.06 ERA following a June 1 start against the Toronto Blue Jays. He was optioned to the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League after the game. He returned to the M's on July 30, and proceeded to go 6–2 with a 3.95 ERA in 13 second-half starts. On September 12, Meche tossed his first career nine-inning shutout against the Boston Red Sox. Overall, Meche finished 7–7 with a 5.01 ERA in 22 starts.
On January 13, , Meche signed a one-year, $2.54 million contract with the Mariners to avoid arbitration. In 2005, Meche posted a winning record of 10–8, but had an ERA of 5.09 in 29 games (26 starts). He pitched innings, and averaged less than six innings in over half of his starts.
On January 26, , Meche avoided arbitration again, signing a one-year, $3.7 million contract. He finished the 2006 season with an 11–8 record and a 4.48 ERA in 32 starts. He also struck out 156 batters in innings.
Meche led the American League with 34 starts again in , while improving to 14–11 with a 3.98 ERA, and pitching over 200 innings for the second consecutive year for a Royals club that finished 75–87 and in fourth place in the American League Central.
On June 16, , Meche pitched a four-hit shutout against the Diamondbacks to improve his season record to 4–5 with a 3.31 ERA. The 132 pitch count, however, took a toll on Meche and he began experiencing back and shoulder problems soon afterwards. For the rest of the 2009 season, Meche went just 2–5 with an 8.46 ERA in his final nine starts. He made 23 total starts, going 6–10 with a 5.09 ERA.
For the first time in his Royals career, 31-year-old Meche did not receive the Opening Day nod for Kansas City in . Instead he was slated as the number-two starter behind reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke. Meche struggled throughout the season, and was 0–4 with a 6.66 ERA after making his final career start on May 25. On May 30, he was placed on the disabled list with right shoulder bursitis, which marked his second stint on the DL for the season. After five rehab appearances with the Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals and Triple-A Omaha Royals, Meche returned to the Royals as a relief pitcher that September. He made 11 appearances, giving up three earned runs in thirteen innings for a 2.08 ERA.
| Seasons | W | L | PCT | ERA | Games played | Games started | Complete game | Shutout | SV | Innings pitched | H | Earned run | R | Home run | BB | Strikeout | Wild pitch | HBP | Fld% |
| 10 | 84 | 83 | .503 | 4.49 | 258 | 243 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1,432.1 | 1,441 | 714 | 772 | 176 | 594 | 1,050 | 38 | 29 | .954 |
Despite a guaranteed contract that called for a $12 million salary in 2011, Meche chose to walk away from the game, rather than play the last year of a five-year contract. His third and fourth years had been injury-ridden, and it was planned that he would be a reliever for the 2011 season, rather than a starting pitcher.
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