INDIANAPOLIS — Austin Meadows began the season hitless in his first four games and his average after one month was just .195. He’s shown flashes of his potential in some at-bats, even for a few games in a row. Just not on a steady, long-term level.
Those within the organization are cognizant of Meadows’ struggles. But are they worried? Not even close.
“I hope nobody is panicking over this guy,” Indianapolis hitting coach Butch Wynegar said. “Because you look at the numbers and know, ‘Ooh, that’s not where he wants to be. I think he’s right on the cusp of breaking loose.”
Meadows has hit safely in 17 of his last 22 games, hitting .256/.301/.337 during that span. He’s not hitting for power right now, although he’s shown the power to find the gaps, while using his speed one time to turn a single into a double. In one key at-bat, he slapped an opposite field RBI hit against a left-hander, going with what was given to him.
And that’s why those within the organization aren’t hitting the panic button on Meadows.
“Any naysayers that are saying his numbers don’t show it and everything, I’d tell them just wait,” Wynegar said. “He’s really on the cusp. The kid knows what he’s doing. He feels, he knows, he says it and that’s all I can ask of him right now.”
While his name has been discussed for several years since being a first-round draft pick in 2013, Meadows is still one of the youngest players in Triple-A. He just turned 22 last Wednesday, and only a handful of players are a few months younger than him.
Meadows is still learning the “cat and mouse” game that Triple-A pitchers are playing with him. And he’s struggling more with right-handers, hitting just .150 against them compared to .256 against left-handers.
The trend so far: fastballs away and soft stuff, Wynegar said.
“His biggest key is his backside and staying on it, not coming off early,” Wynegar said. “That’s when he ends up out in front of off-speed. When he holds his backside and allows himself to get into a position to hit, this kid can hit.”
And in the long run, this early slump might turn out to be a positive, said Larry Broadway, the organization’s director of minor league operations.
“I think it’s good,” Broadway said. “You never really want a guy to struggle for the first time at the big league level. I think this is a good learning piece for him.”
He’s struggled with injuries – suffering a broken orbital bone last year – but has not really ever struggled at the plate for an extended time.
“To experience some lows and find out to how to work his way out, find out what his keys are, and find out stuff about yourself is huge,” Broadway said.
Meadows is slowly starting to figure things out, but the mental aspect of handling a struggle is almost as key as changing any small physical trends. He wants to break out of his slump but doesn’t want to get over-aggressive with his approach, swinging at pitches he shouldn’t. He wants to be “selectively-aggressive” at the plate.
“It’s tough because you want to have good at-bats, quality at-bats,” Meadows said. “When things aren’t going your way things can get out of whack and just start swinging up there. I think at this level pitchers are good enough to get you out with certain pitches if you have that approach. That won’t help in the long run.”
Pittsburgh has had to shuffle its outfield after Starling Marte’s 80-game suspension for PED use. Jose Osuna was immediately promoted and Danny Ortiz, who was hitting just .224 with Indianapolis, was called up for his defensive abilities for a short period.
But Meadows – someone that can handle all outfield positions – is still sitting in Triple-A. He’s played well defensively, but has struggled offensively and is trying to do too much at the plate.
Those within the organization will say everyone at the Triple-A level is an option to be promoted but Meadows wasn’t really in the conversation when Ortiz was promoted. There wasn’t much sense in bringing up the organization’s top prospect if he’s struggling at the plate, along with time served implications of bringing him up for a short-need.
“We’re seeing a young man trying to get nine hits a night, maybe four hits each at-bat and that doesn’t go very well,” Pirates’ General Manager Neal Huntington said. “When guys press and they try too hard, they get outside themselves. They start chasing pitches. They start just missing pitches that normally they crush. We’re seeing that with him a little bit. He knows that we have an outfield spot and that it’s wide open. He’s trying to show us that he’s ready to take that spot and unfortunately, he’ll be ready when he stops trying to show us that he’s ready.”
Broadway said the typical ideology is that a player should get 600 at-bats in the upper level before being promoted. Meadows had 126 at-bats with Indianapolis after being promoted last season. He would likely finish with about 550 at-bats if he stays healthy for the duration of this season.
“You don’t want to shortchange at-bats at the upper level, because you can wind up stunting some growth at the major league level if you push him too quick,” Broadway said. “I don’t know if there is a magic number. But he’s not there yet.”
Once Meadows gets on track offensively, the discussions from the outside on when he should be promoted will grow more frenzied. Such is life as one of baseball’s top-ranked prospects.
“I just go out there and just try to take care of things on the field. Prospect rankings are cool and it’s an honor to be up there with the top talent in the world and organization, guys you play with and against. That stuff takes care of itself and my ultimate goal is to get to the big leagues and play well enough to stay there.”
Ortiz and Meadows have both played all three outfield positions this season, and neither one has made an error this season. The corner positions are newest to Meadows, who has played 282 of his 308 games in center field and this was the first season he’s played in right field.
“I feel really comfortable in all three,” Meadows said. “I think I have a good feel for left, right and center. Being able to play those positions in high school established that for me. And this year it’s three. I keep working and I think all of those three still need work. But I do feel really good in all three.”
Soon enough, Meadows will start to consistently put things together at the plate and show his potential as one of baseball’s top prospects. And his defense will continue to improve in the corner outfield positions, as he learns the intricacies of those positions. Once that all happens, the questions will become not what’s wrong with Meadows, but when will he be promoted.
