Meadows strives for Triple-A improvement

This story was excerpted from Jason Beck’s Tigers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

TOLEDO, Ohio -- Parker Meadows could figure out what to expect.

As soon as he was ready to step into the box in the seventh inning with runners on second and third in a two-run game last Thursday against the Bats, Louisville replaced hard-throwing right-hander Alan Busenitz and brought in veteran southpaw Alex Young to set up a lefty-lefty confrontation. Considering Young throws more curveballs against left-handed hitters than any other pitch, Meadows was ready.

“Honestly, [I was] just trying to put whatever he throws me in play,” Meadows said, “put it in play early and try to get the job done and try to get those guys to score.”

Meadows saw the first-pitch curveball on the outside corner and lined it into right-center field for a two-run single, putting the Mud Hens in command on their way to a 9-4 win. It was just as important for Meadows as it was for the team.

“He actually has been having some really good at-bats against lefties,” Mud Hens manager Tim Fedorowicz said of Meadows, batting .261 (12-for-46) with a .345 wOBA off left-handers at Triple-A. “He’s not trying to do a ton of damage. He’s kind of taking his singles and it showed there, jumping on the first pitch and just throwing that single out there. It was huge.”

The Tigers sent Meadows to Toledo wanting to see him handle breaking pitches better. He hit .167 (3-for-18) with a 31.9 percent whiff rate against them with Detroit, according to Statcast, before being optioned on May 7. He struggled with fastballs as well in the Majors, going 3-for-39 (.077) with a 27.7 percent whiff rate, but that has improved in the Minors.

Meadows ended June batting .298 (17-for-57) with a .429 wOBA off four-seam fastballs, .579 (11-for-19) with a .676 wOBA off sinkers and .500 (7-for-14) with a .740 wOBA off cutters in Triple-A. He hit .421 (8-for-19) with a 56-percent hard-hit rate off pitches at 95 miles per hour or harder. By contrast, he’s 9-for-52 (.173) with a 36.7 percent whiff rate against sliders, sweepers and curveballs, including 4-for-28 (.143) in June. Five hits have come off curveballs.

Meadows said he made adjustments upon arrival in Toledo after being caught in between on pitches in Detroit.

“Maybe a little mechanical, but timing was the main issue,” Meadows said. “And when my timing’s off, that’s kind of when my mechanics are slacking a little bit. So the goal coming down here was just see a lot of pitches and get back on track and just try to put my team in the best position to win.”

There was also the decompression factor. Meadows was pressing in Detroit as the at-bats and outs piled up, digging a bigger statistical hole. After taking a deep breath, he said he focused on improving his game rather than obsessing about a return to the Majors.

“I’m not thinking about that at all, to be honest,” Meadows said when asked about a return to Detroit. “I’m just playing my game. This team here is really fun. We’ve got good chemistry. We hang out outside of the field. I’m just coming in every day with a positive mindset to help the team win.”