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Pittsburgh Pirates 2016 Top Prospects: #2 – Austin Meadows

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The Pirates Prospects 2016 Prospect Guide is now on sale. The book features prospect reports on everyone in the system, the 2016 top 50 prospects, and the most comprehensive coverage of the Pirates’ farm system that you can find. Subscribers to the site get free and discounted books, with Top Prospect subscribers getting the 2016 book for free, and Annual subscribers getting $10 off. Both levels of subscribers can also get the book for just $5. Details on all three promotions can be found on the products page, and you can subscribe to the site or upgrade your current plan on the subscriptions page.

While the top 50 prospects are exclusive to the book, we will be releasing the top 20 prospects over the next few weeks. The reports will only be available to site subscribers, including those with a monthly plan. You can subscribe here, and if you like these reports, be sure to purchase your copy of the book on the products page of the site to get much more analysis on every player in the system.

To recap the countdown so far:

20. Willy Garcia, RF
19. Clay Holmes, RHP
18. Mitch Keller, RHP
17. Max Moroff, 2B
16. Chad Kuhl, RHP
15. Cole Tucker, SS
14. Stephen Tarpley, LHP
13. Steven Brault, LHP
12. Yeudy Garcia, RHP
11. Kevin Newman, SS
10. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B
9. Nick Kingham, RHP
8. Elias Diaz, C
7. Reese McGuire, C
6. Harold Ramirez, OF
5. Alen Hanson, 2B
4. Jameson Taillon, RHP
3. Josh Bell, 1B

We continue the countdown with the number 2 prospect, Austin Meadows.

2. Austin Meadows, OF

When Meadows was drafted, he drew a lot of comparisons to Jay Bruce, due to his raw power potential, and the fact that he would likely end up in right field. So far the power hasn’t shown up consistently, although there have been some positive signs in his first two full seasons. He missed a lot of time with hamstring injuries in 2014, but was healthy in 2015 had great numbers in Bradenton.

The Pirates had Meadows shorten up his swing this year and focus on his rhythm in the box, leading to an extremely quick bat through the zone, with a compact swing path that allows him to start swinging later, giving more time to recognize breaking pitches. He had issues with that in the past, but he wasn’t fooled by many breaking pitches in 2015, and improved his strikeout numbers.

Meadows had a lot of success in a limited time in Altoona at the end of the year. He went to the AFL, where he was hitting the ball hard, but having some bad luck. He capped off his experience with a big home run in the Fall Stars Game, and started getting national attention as a top prospect with a lot of power potential due to his quick swing.

The Pirates have no need for an outfielder any time soon, which means they can take their time with Meadows. He’s got the range to be a center fielder, but projects for left field in the future since his arm strength falls behind the guys currently in the majors. He could be the eventual replacement for Andrew McCutchen, and if his power develops as expected, he could continue the string of impact outfielders to make their way through the current farm system into Pittsburgh.

Click Here to Purchase the Pirates Prospects 2016 Prospect Guide

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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