Top OF prospect 2 for 4 in debut
Meadows was at his locker Thursday after Class AAA Indianapolis’ 6-0 win in Norfolk, Va., when he was summoned to manager Brian Esposito’s office. Meadows had gone 3 for 5, bringing his batting average to .294, but Esposito took issue with the ninth-inning double.
“Why didn’t you go for three?” Esposito asked.
“I can’t really give you an answer,” Meadows replied, surprised. “I’m not sure.”
“Well you can’t do that in the big leagues,” the manager said, breaking into a smile. “And that’s where you’re going.”
Meadows then phoned his mother, Staci, and delivered the news. “I think she had a mini heart attack,” he recalled. “She couldn’t speak.” Meadows called his father, Kenny; his fiancée, Alexis Wilson; and then his younger brother, Parker. Word spread. Jed Hixon, the Grayson High School baseball coach, texted Meadows two emojis — thumbs up, fist bump.
“He knew that I knew,” Hixson said Friday.
Late Thursday night, before his flight to Pittsburgh, Meadows read a text message he’d received from Kimera Bartee, the Pirates first-base coach Meadows worked with extensively in the minors. “The time has come,” Bartee wrote. “You’re here to help a firstplace team compete.”
“When he told me that,” Meadows said, “it hit me.”
It hit even harder Friday morning when Meadows’ mother sent him a photo of a banner — his banner, with his name and his face and his new jersey number, No. 17 — hanging outside PNC Park.
By mid-afternoon, the Meadows and assorted extended family stood behind home plate while the Pirates took batting practice. Parker, the younger brother, stood a head taller than the rest. In the next few weeks, Parker will, in a likelihood, graduate from Grayson High School in Loganville, Ga., and be selected in the MLB draft. He is projected to be taken as early as the tail end of the first round.
Meadows and his brother have similar profiles — blazing speed, plus left-handed pop — but Parker is two inches taller, standing at a lanky 6 feet 5. Parker is committed to Clemson, like his older brother was in 2013, and likely will have to decide later this summer between a college scholarship and a hefty signing bonus. He saw his brother’s path to the majors. He knows neither way will be entirely smooth.
“Whether he goes to Clemson or to pro ball,” Meadows said, “I’m going to be a proud brother either way.”
Friday was the last day of classes before exams at Grayson High School, so Hixson, a language arts teacher, couldn’t skip town. He wore a Pirates T-shirt to school and sent an all-faculty email about Meadows’ debut. A few responses were elementary and middle school teachers reminiscing about teaching Meadows, the major leaguer, once upon a time.
Hixson went to the Atlanta Braves game Friday night. He watched Meadows’ at-bats on his phone.
“With everything he’s battled,” Hixson said, “it’s sweet for him to finally get there.”
“I think she had a mini heart attack. She couldn’t speak.” — Austin Meadows, on his mom’s reaction to promotion