The Tigers announced this evening that they are planning to recall outfielder Parker Meadows from Triple-A tomorrow. The 23-year-old outfielder’s first appearance will be his major league debut. Since Meadows in on the 40-man roster already, a corresponding move will only be necessary to make room for him on the active roster.
Meadows, the brother of fellow Tiger Austin Meadows, was selected by Detroit out of high school in the second round of the 2018 draft. Meadows had something of a breakout season last year that saw him promoted from High-A to Double-A after just 14 games. From there, Meadows would go on to slash an impressive .275/.354/.466 in 113 games with a solid 10.6% walk rate and a strikeout rate of just 18.4%. That strong season left Meadows as one of the club’s better prospects entering the 2023 season, with Fangraphs considering him Detroit’s sixth-best prospect while MLB.com’s midseason ranking places him tenth in the Tigers’ system.
That discrepancy, of course, can partially be explained by the additions of Max Clark and Kevin McGonigle, both of whom were drafted by the Tigers last month. In addition to that, however, Meadows simply hasn’t replicated his impressive season last year at the Triple-A level in 2023, posting a more pedestrian slash line of .256/.337/.474 in 517 trips to the plate this year. While Meadows’ walk rate has actually ticked up to 11% and he’s hitting for more power with a .218 ISO in 2023, his reduced strikeout rate from last year has ticked back up to 23.8%, not far off from his 24.7% career average. The additional punchouts leave Meadows with a wRC+ of 97 that’s a bit below league average.
Despite something of a step back with the bat this year, there’s still reason for optimism regarding his impact on the Tigers. If Meadows can provide the late-season spark that youngster Kerry Carpenter provided in 2022 (126 wRC+ in 113 at-bats last year), the club would have a solid trio of young outfielders headed into the 2024 campaign next season between Meadows, Carpenter, and Riley Greene. Even if Meadows doesn’t reach those same heights, he seems certain to provide quality defense and baserunning as a speedy center fielder who has swiped 19 bags at Triple-A this year in 21 attempts.
Going forward, Meadows seems likely to cut into the playing time of Akil Baddoo in the outfield as the 24-year-old has struggled to a .221/.311/.370 slash line this season with a wRC+ of just 89. Matt Vierling, Zach McKinstry, and Nick Maton have gotten reps in the outfield as well, though each of that trio has primarily played the infield for the Tigers this season.
Buh-bye, Maton or McKinstry…..
More likely Maton since he has options remaining while McKinstry does not.
Could also be a pitcher but someone with options makes sense since they can come back when rosters expand to 28.
Would have to believe it’s Maton since Vierling has been getting the recent starts at 3rd.
Maton
Maton for sure
Not a good look, BB. We don’t know what Austin has been going through.
I agree that comment was a bit much but so is taking a year off from playing baseball over mental health issues. You would think there would be an update or something going on with him. He’s paid a lot of money there is responsibility that comes with that.
Blame Kris Bryant and Anthony Rendon; they’re malingerers and make it hard to feel sorry for other highly paid athletes who may have legitimate issues. For now, I’ll save my sympathy for little old ladies, disabled veterans and children from impoverished, unstable families.
Lack of effort? How do you justify such a nonsense statement? You think he’s not working towards getting his mind healthy? Why would he not want to play the game he loves if he was capable? He’s obviously not, so maybe grow some empathy.
It’s not your money they’re “stealing” so yeah I’d suggest finding something that matters to complain about
I work in a dead end job, my mental health is always something that requires work, and luckily I have supportive people and not people like you in my life. If he can’t manage the grind of being a PRO ATHELTE, maybe that’s indicative of a big issue?? Nah, he should just grab his bootstraps or something.
You pay for the Healthcare needs of these ballplayers? Huh, that’s odd. Seems like you’re confused
For 2 seasons now
There’s been several updates on Austin; numerous attempts to come back haven’t been successful.
You really need some professional help dude with this way out of line comment…
“Professional help dude”..I love the people that try to tell everyone else how to think and feel. And then,
if you don’t think the way they do, here come the insults, right?
Alright give it a rest would ya? The dude is clearly not well and he can afford to take care of it. I would rather him get right than play absent minded
Yeah, it is truly sad that most of us can’t get the help we need because of our backwards society and broken health care system. I guess the only thing to do is be a jerk to someone who is lucky enough to have that opportunity.
WHAT!? So if we had more people going to therapy, we couldn’t treat cancer? Lmaoooo I live in NY but I’m sure that’s just too “coastal” for you
Dear lord man, he’s a baseball player! He’s pretty far from essential to the workforce. WHY are you mad that he’s getting help instead of playing a game for a bad team? What good does being that bitter do you or anyone? Just be respectful and supportive of the guy and if you can’t muster that, just keep your mouth shut. Really not that hard.
Who is he taking advantage of? The ghost of Mike Ilitch? I guess he should just keep grinding until he cant take it anymore and well, darwinism, ay?
I didn’t say the job was the issue, learn to read. The point is that he’s dealing with severe mental health issues and idk if you’re aware of this, but playing pro ball is a lot of work when you’re struggling to find reasons to exist. His job is immaterial to HIS HEALTH. Good God, you are frightingly dense
“Backwards society and broken health care”…You fake socialists had your chance and you blew it, ignoring the needs of everyday, hardworking American Citizens in favor of opinion-manufacturing Sexual deviates, aka Hollywood celebrity elites.
You can take paid Disability leave for mental health issues if you get decent benefits. Go talk to HR…
Since you mentioned weakness, it’s worth pointing out that your comment screams absolute mental weakness.
I’m not sure Parker Meadows is ready for MLB. He has been decent at AAA, but nothing great. Oh well, not like they are playing for anything.
I hope Parker figures out how to hit more line drives and find the gaps. He doesn’t have enough pop to get over an MLB outfield. His glove is good, but not great so that won’t keep him in the show.
My best comp for him would be Andy Dirks, or maybe even peak Chester McClellan.
Andy Dirks was a nice player for a couple seasons.
He’s not ready, but he’s on the 40 man roster, unlike Malloy or Keith.
To be fair, Keith isn’t ready, either.
He has 4th outfielder written all over him.
Or 5th outfielder, and even that’s not guaranteed.
Hopefully Parker can show Austin how to stay consistently healthy and productive. Good luck to both brothers
What an absolutely ridiculous take! You have no clue what your talking about chief. I’m sure you’re just saying that to get a reaction like other immature morons like yourself. But still pathetic nonetheless.
My brother killed himself and my first cousin has been baker acted twice. So for me personally I can’t stand athletes that say it’s hard and don’t want to work.
So, he should ignore his issues, keep playing a game and end up like your brother? That’s sound logic.
Take care of yourself but I swear, if you miss a single second of work? Empathy revoked. Welcome to the real world!
Keep preaching! I agree with you 100%
I’ll at least admit my original statement was a bit rough, but I did it to generate the debate and reaction it caused.
It doesn’t make you a better person to have not asked for help. In fact it seems to have contributed to the deep sense of bitterness you appear to have in regards to the idea of public assistance, which you’ve chosen to work out in a very healthy way (posting incessantly on MLBTR about how players need to ignore their mental issues and do their jobs for your entertainment).
“Bidens_brain” just simply sounds like an envious, jealous dude that dropped out of high school in order to start his own landscaping business and is going thru his 3rd divorce while waiting on a backfill of his ED meds
After HARRIS cutting Haase, I’m worried about the next cut he will make. Baddoo has actually been playing well, recently. Seems like the type of player that HARRIS would cut so there is no return.
Get rid of Ibanez for Malloy
Maton probably goes down to Toledo because he has options left. But Akil is a candidate too, as is Andy Ibanez. Depends how AJ wants to keep playing matchups…
They’re not going to cut Baddoo. My guess is that they’ll call up Malloy in September. They can always dump Nevin or Diaz from the 40 man roster.
Haase sucked for long enough
Congratulations!
I agree with somebody. W Perez and JHenry as well. Why not?
PARKER MEADOWS COME ON UP !!!!! Finally some good news from the farm. As we see on the thread I hope he does not have to deal with his brother’s condition too much when he’s up this year. His brother will get his disability retirement, and all is well as his younger brother will be a player for many years to come too.
This going to be good. The Cubs are on fire, and then it’s Houston, and the Yanks. Great time to bring him up for this home stand, great move by Harris. Since the DFA water has been broken with the release of Hasse, the other players know it’s that time of year. Anything can happen, and Detroit has no shortage of candidates to move up or down, and out.
This is great news for the fans, but we know how it works here in Detroit. They have a tendency to not put the guy in right away. Add the fact they are still giving Miggy a chance to perhaps pass Beltre, so he can rub his head at will when they meet again. This will be fun watching him get some firsts out of the way. This should be a great home stand, of course it would have been better if kids did not start school till after labor day like they use to.
We probably won’t find out who’s playing or who goes down till close to 4 pm. This is going to be a fun home stand, I hope Gibby is well enough to be in the booth. PARKER MEADOWS CONGRATULATIONS !!!
How are the Tigers so thin? Al Avila did a horrendous job.
MLB Pipeline actually has the Tigers farm system ranked #14, so it’s basically middle of the pack.
I’m also very skeptical of his alleged mental health issues because he had two other “invisible injuries” before the anxiety. From the very beginning of his tenure, it’s been very obvious that he didn’t want to play baseball for the Tigers. And, he took an extension during the offseason and here we go again.
Even if I’m wrong, does it really take two years to get the help and correct medication to overcome the issues? Is not working helping or hurting?
I have no ill will towards Austin, but I hope (and believe) the Tigers will move on from him after this season. He gets what he obviously wanted.
He’s good, Tiger fans will like him
Parker will probably push Greene to corner and hopefully most days Carpenter or Baddoo to DH
Parker will have to hit in order to be the Tigers regular center fielder. I’m not convinced he can stick on the roster.
It’s official, the Tigers sent Maton back to Toledo to make room for Parker Meadows.