Meadows returns to Indianaplis to play every day

The signs were there for about a week. Then, the Pirates pulled the plug.

Outfielder Austin Meadows was optioned Sunday to Class AAA Indianapolis. To take Meadows’ spot on the roster, they recalled right-hander Tanner Anderson, who pitched the 10th inning and got the win in the Pirates’ 7-6 victory against the Milwaukee-Brewers at PNC Park.

Meadows, who started the season as the team’s top position player prospect, was promoted in May when Starling Marte went on the disabled list. He played his way onto the club after an incredibly hot start: a .409 average, four home runs and a 1.221 OPS in his first 13 games, good enough for National League rookie of the month honors in May. In his past 35 games, including 23 starts, Meadows batted .252 with one homer and a .641 OPS.

“I’m really excited about what he did, especially that first week,” general manager Neal Huntington said. “The last month hasn’t been as productive, and it’s tough to ask a young player to not play. It’s in his best interests and our best interests to let him grow and develop.”

Meadows has not started a game since last Sunday, and it seemed inevitable that the Pirates, who intended to play him seven out of 10 games when they set up their fourman outfield in late May, would eventually send him downto the minors, especially now that Marte and Gregory Polanco have heated up. Because their four-man outfield was designed with the idea of having benefits for each player, Marte’s and Polanco’s recent success made Meadows the odd-man out.

“Austin wasn’t a fourth outfielder,” Huntington said. “It was not in his best interest or our best interests to serve as a fourth outfielder. So, once the rotation stopped, because those three starters were really producing again, it became time to try to get him out.”

Huntington said he learned from Polanco’s early successes in 2014, followed by a long slump, in which Polanco remained with the big-league club. “You could easily argue that had I taken him off the club and let him go play regularly for a month instead of being a role-player behind Travis Snider, we might have seen Gregory Polanco turn thecorner quicker.”

Another sign that seemed to indicate Meadows would be sent down was Jordan Luplow’s July 6 promotion from Class AAA Indianapolis. Luplow has started three games since his call-up, all against left-handed starters.

“The best and easiest answer to that is we’re in a winnow mode,” Huntington said. “We’re fighting for our playoff lives. And I support the staff in putting out the lineup every night that they feel gives us the best chance to win that game.”

The move took place two or three days later than it usually would have, Huntington said, because of Saturday’s doubleheader.

“Once he stopped playing regularly would have been the best time to get him out,” he said. “But we needed to leave ourselves some flexibility to get through the doubleheader [Saturday]. The move was made today because we needed another arm in the bullpen and a chance to get Austin out.”