Pittsburgh Pirates 40 in 40 – Austin Meadows

Our 40 in 40 series, which take a look at each player on the 40 man roster for the Pittsburgh Pirates, continues today with one of the team’s top prospects, Austin Meadows.

It was never a matter of if, but when Austin Meadows would have a clear path to an outfield spot with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Now that the Andrew McCutchen era in Pittsburgh has officially come to an end, it all but assures that Meadows will join the club at some point in 2018. However, injuries on the field have raised some concerns as to whether he can be the impact player he was projected to be when he was drafted. But make no mistake, when he is ready, Meadows will be patrolling the outfield at PNC Park.

When the Pirates drafted Meadows with the ninth overall pick in the 2013 amateur draft, he was seen as the heir apparent to McCutchen’s throne in center field. Across two levels in the minor league system in 2013, he certainly had everyone feeling optimistic. He slashed .316/.424/.554 with seven home runs in just 177 at-bats. While this is a small sample size, these types of numbers are would make any organization happy with a top pick’s first exposure to professional competition.

Throughout his career so far, Meadows had dealt with more than his fair share of injuries. He suffered an orbital fracture to his right eye during spring training in 2016 which slowed his development. He was hit hard by the injury bug last season as he missed time due to a hamstring injury and an oblique injury. The injuries to the oblique and hamstrings are concerning because those are the types of injuries that can be reoccurring during a player’s career. Given that the injuries have caused problems while he was with Indianapolis last year, he will start the 2018 season there and hope for a promotion this summer.

Meadows could probably use a little more experience with the Triple-A affiliate anyway since his numbers at that level are fairly underwhelming.  In the 410 at-bats that Meadows has amassed with Indianapolis over the past two years, he is slashing just .239/.306/.390 with just ten home runs. More alarming is that he has struck out 84 times in those at-bats, which is just over 20 percent. But given the state of the parent club entering 2018, there is no urgency to get Meadows to Pittsburgh right away. The team has the option to allow Meadows to see more time with Indianapolis and work on his game before they need to call him up.

Defensive concerns? Nah.

Defensively, Meadow appears ready to handle the rigors of being a starting outfield at the Major League level. Last year in 595.1 innings in the outfield with Indianapolis (including 282.1 in center field), Meadows had a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. Again, this is a small sample size, representing not even half of a season, but it’s still a good sign from the man that could be patrolling center field at PNC Park this summer.

The eventual promotion of Meadows really hangs on two things. He is a top prospect and the player that he was set to replace is gone, so there is no one standing in his way. But he is going to need to improve at the Triple-A level this season and show the team that he is ready to take over in center field (or a corner outfield position if the team goes in that direction). But just as important as it is for Meadows to continue to grow at that level, he is going to need to show that he can stay healthy. He has only topped 100 games played once in his career, and that was when he played in 127 in 2015 between Bradenton and Altoona. So the numerous injuries that he has dealt with and the development time they have taken away from him are a definite concern.

But just like how McCutchen was called up and replaced Nate McLouth in 2009, history could repeat itself nine years later with Meadows taking over for a fan favorite. And hopefully just like McCutchen, Meadows puts together a string of high quality seasons and he is part of the next great Pirates team. Only time can tell, but if he can stay healthy and boost those Triple-A numbers, he should be wearing black and gold at some point this summer.