Meadows may have had breakthrough with HR
Solo shot Wednesday ended hitless streak of 18 at-bats
Parker Meadows finally got into one.
The 24-year-old, an elite defender in center fielder for the Detroit Tigers, had two hits in 38 at-bats this season, and not one in his past 18 at-bats, when he stepped to the plate in the seventh inning of Wednesday’s 5-4 loss to the Texas Rangers, facing right-handed reliever Austin Pruitt. He put some balls in play with hard contact but didn’t have anything to show, at least not until swinging at Pruitt’s middlemiddle fastball for a solo home run to rightcenter field.
Meadows has been trying to get on time for fastballs.
“Didn’t miss it, finally,” Meadows said. “I’ve been missing a lot of those all year so far, but it’s part of it.”
Meadows hammered Pruitt’s 90.7 mph fastball with a 108.7 mph exit velocity. He hit the ball 399 feet.
Meadows entered Wednesday’s game with two hits, but only one hit on fastballs. He had 11 of his 17 strikeouts against fastballs. His expected batting average against fastballs, at .042, looked almost exactly like his actual batting average against fastballs. He also had a 33.3% whiff rate on fastballs.
As a result of those issues, Meadows didn’t record his third hit of the season until Wednesday’s seventh-inning home run. Opposing pitchers like to overwhelm Meadows with fastballs at the top of the strike zone, specifically up and away.
“For me, when I’m loaded up for the heater, that allows me to see everything well,” Meadows said. “I felt good on the heater. I felt like I was on the fastball, and I saw the ball well. I’ll continue to build off that.”
Hitting coach Michael Brdar has been working with Meadows on the specific goal of getting on time against fastballs. The Tigers knew Meadows would provide elite defense (89th
percentile in outs above average) and baserunning (96th percentile in sprint speed), but the offense (fifth percentile in whiff rate) was always the biggest question mark.
It continues to be a work-in-progress.
“I can be patient,” manager A.J. Hinch said Thursday morning on WXYT-FM (97.1 The Ticket), as part of the ‘Costa and Jansen’ show. “You still should be excited about Parker, like 3-for-30s and these tough stretches do not mean you should jump off board. There’s a lot to like. What I try to urge with young players is don’t ride the roller coaster, just stay with your process, stay with your plan, do your preparation. And then, obviously, you got to be held accountable to your performance, but he brings
game every day to help us win. That gives us the patience to let the ups and downs of the offensive side of his game level out a little bit.”
Meadows maintained his rookie status after a cup of coffee — just 37 games — last season, hitting .232 (29-for-125) with three home runs, 17 walks and 37 strikeouts. This season, he is hitting .077 (3-for-39) with one home run, eight walks and 17 strikeouts in 17 games.
He had a 24% whiff rate in 2023, followed by a much worse 36.7% whiff rate so far in 2024. He isn’t putting the ball in play enough. “I’m just riding the wave, man,” Meadows said. “It’s a roller coaster. I’m going in every day with a full head of confidence, sticking to my routine and trusting myself.”
But Meadows put the ball in play with power in Wednesday’s loss.
It was a much-needed home run.
“Felt good to find a barrel,” Meadows said. “It’s been too long. I’ve been seeing the ball better in the past couple days. I’ll just continue to build on that.”
Working his way back
Right-handed reliever Brendan White, a member of the 40-man roster, has been placed on the development list.
He is working on his mechanics in Lakeland, Florida.
“We got to get him in the strike zone,” Hinch said. “He has been erratic for the better part of spring into the beginning part of the season. It was time for us to address some mechanical issues in getting him to locate his pitches competitively . ... The only way to really give him a break and get him back into spring training mode was that transaction.”
White, 25, posted a 5.09 ERA with 15 walks and 44 strikeouts across 402⁄3 innings in 33 games for the Tigers last season. He reported right elbow soreness at the beginning of spring training and missed a few weeks in camp.
Medical update
The Tigers released their latest medical update Tuesday.
Two players remained on the list. Right-hander Sawyer Gipson-Long suffered right forearm tightness while recovering from a left groin strain. He continues to get opinions from different doctors about his forearm injury, and he told reporters — including MLB.com’s Jason Beck — that he has already visited Dr. Tim Griffith in Atlanta and Dr. Keith Meister in Texas.
Utility player Andy Ibáñez, recovering from a left hamstring strain, continues to progress in his return to play running progression while completing hitting and defensive drills. He won’t be activated until at least Monday, if not later than that.