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Austin Meadows

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Austin Meadows
Meadows with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2019
Free agent
Outfielder
Born: (1995-05-03) May 3, 1995 (age 29)
Grayson, Georgia, U.S.
Bats: Left
Throws: Left
MLB debut
May 18, 2018, for the Pittsburgh Pirates
MLB statistics
(through 2023 season)
Batting average.259
Home runs70
Runs batted in238
Teams
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's baseball
Representing  United States
World Youth Baseball Championship
Gold medal – first place 2011 Mexico Team

Austin Wade Meadows (born May 3, 1995) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is currently a free agent. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Tampa Bay Rays and Detroit Tigers. Meadows was an MLB All-Star in 2019.

Early life and amateur career

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Meadows grew up in Grayson, Georgia, where he competed in baseball with Clint Frazier.[1] He attended Grayson High School, and led the school's baseball team to the Georgia Class 6A State semi-finals as a junior, hitting .390 with four home runs, 28 runs batted in (RBIs), and 19 stolen bases.[2] Meadows was named a preseason First-Team High School All American by Rawlings and Perfect Game,[3] and he hit .535 with 14 doubles, one triple, four home runs and 28 RBIs in his senior season.[2]

Meadows also played football as a running back, wide receiver, and punter at Grayson where he was a teammate of Wayne Gallman and Robert Nkemdiche.[4]

Professional career

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Pittsburgh Pirates

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Meadows was considered one of the top prospects eligible for the 2013 Major League Baseball draft.[5][6] The Pittsburgh Pirates selected him in the first round, with the ninth overall selection. Meadows was committed to attend Clemson University to play college baseball for the Clemson Tigers, but chose to forgo that commitment by signing with the Pirates, receiving a $3,029,600 signing bonus three weeks after the draft.[7]

After signing with the Pirates, Meadows played for the Gulf Coast Pirates of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League and the Jamestown Jammers of the Low–A New York–Penn League in 2013,[8] compiling a combined .316 batting average with seven home runs and 22 RBIs in 48 games between both teams. He played for the West Virginia Power of the Single–A South Atlantic League in 2014, but missed a significant portion of the season due to a hamstring injury,[9] playing only 38 games, batting .322/.388/.486 with three home runs and 15 RBIs. He played for the Bradenton Marauders of the High–A Florida State League (FSL) in 2015, and was named an FSL All-Star.[10] He spent the final week of the season with the Altoona Curve of the Double–A Eastern League.[11] In 121 games for Bradenton he slashed .307/.357/.407 with seven home runs and 54 RBIs, and in six games for Altoona he batted 360. After the regular season, he played for the Glendale Desert Dogs of the Arizona Fall League.[12]

Meadows suffered a broken orbital bone in his right eye during spring training in 2016.[11] He returned to Altoona and earned a promotion to the Indianapolis Indians of the Triple–A International League in June.[13] In 45 games for Altoona he batted .311 with six home runs and 23 RBIs in 45 games, and in 37 games for Indianapolis, he compiled a .214 batting average with six home runs and 34 RBIs. The Pirates invited Meadows to spring training in 2017.[14] Meadows returned to Indianapolis for the 2017 season,[15] where he posted a .250 batting average with four home runs and 36 RBIs in 72 games.[16] He missed nearly two months of the season due to hamstring and oblique strains. The Pirates added him to their 40-man roster after the 2017 season.[17]

Meadows with the Pirates in 2018

MLB.com ranked Meadows as Pittsburgh's second best prospect going into the 2018 season.[18] He began the season with Indianapolis and was promoted to the major leagues to make his debut on May 18.[19] He recorded his first major league hit off of Tyson Ross, as well as his first stolen base, that same night. On May 20, 2018, he hit his first major league home run off of Jordan Lyles.[20] Meadows was named the National League Rookie of the Month for the month of May after batting .409 with four home runs, seven RBIs, three doubles, and three stolen bases in 13 games during the month.[21]

Tampa Bay Rays

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On July 31, 2018, Meadows was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays, along with Tyler Glasnow and a player to be named later, later revealed to be Shane Baz, for Chris Archer and was optioned to Triple-A Durham.[22] Meadows was promoted to the Tampa Bay Rays on September 19. In ten games with the Rays, hit .250/.308/.417 with a home run and four runs batted in.[23] Meadows ended the season slashing .287/.325/.461 with six home runs and 17 runs batted in over 59 games.

In 2019, Meadows made his first All-star game. He ended the 2019 season with career highs offensively. He led the team in average (.291), home runs (33), runs (83) and 89 runs batted in in 138 games.[23]

On July 16, 2020, Meadows was placed on the injured list after he tested positive for COVID-19, which caused him to miss the beginning of the abbreviated 2020 season. After recovering from the illness, he returned to the Rays on August 4.[24][25] During the season, Meadows hit .205/.296/.371 in 36 games.

In 2021 he had the lowest ground ball/fly ball ratio in the major leagues, at 0.54, and the lowest ground ball percentage, at 28.7%.[26] He finished the 2021 season with a .234 batting average, with 27 home runs and 106 RBIs.

Detroit Tigers

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On April 4, 2022, Meadows was traded to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for Isaac Paredes and a competitive balance round B pick in the 2022 MLB draft.[27] After leaving the Tigers early in the season due to vertigo and later COVID-19, Meadows returned to the team in June only to go on the injured list again with tendinitis in his Achilles. He would not return to the Tigers the rest of the season, adding that he was suffering from mental health issues in addition to his physical ailments.[28] In 36 games with the Tigers in 2022, Meadows batted .250 with no home runs.

On November 25, 2022, the Tigers and Meadows agreed on a one-year, $4.3 million contract for the 2023 season, avoiding salary arbitration.[29] On April 8, 2023, Meadows was placed on the injured list with anxiety issues. The Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris issued a statement supporting Meadows' decision to step away from the game to seek help.[30] On May 1, Meadows was transferred to the 60-day injured list.[31] On September 9, it was announced that Meadows would not return to the Tigers in 2023.[32] On November 17, 2023, it was announced that the Tigers would not tender Meadows a contract for the 2024 season, making him a free agent.[33]

Personal life

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Meadows' mother, Staci, played softball for Georgia Southern University and Georgia State University, and works as an elementary school teacher in Grayson. His father, Kenny, played baseball and football for Morehead State University. His brother, Parker, was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the second round of the 2018 MLB draft and currently plays in their organization. Meadows married his wife, Alexis, in December 2018. Meadows is a Christian.[34]

Meadows grew up an Atlanta Braves fan.[35]

References

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  1. ^ "Rivals and pals, Frazier and Meadows create Draft buzz". MLB.com. May 10, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Pirates Draft Austin Meadows With the 9th Overall Pick". Piratesprospects.com. June 6, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  3. ^ "2013 Rawlings Preseason Senior High School All Americans". Perfect Game USA. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  4. ^ Wilson, David (March 24, 2017). "Pirates prospect Austin Meadows was also high school football star". Bradenton Herald. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  5. ^ "2013 Top 100 Draft Prospects (May 10): Jonathan Gray Takes Top Spot - BaseballAmerica.com". May 10, 2013. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  6. ^ "Law: Top 100 draft prospects". May 8, 2013. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  7. ^ "Pirates Agree to Terms with Austin Meadows". mlbtraderumors.com. June 27, 2013. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
  8. ^ "Pittsburgh Pirates Scouting Report on OF Austin Meadows – FOX Sports". March 17, 2017. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  9. ^ "With Pirates, Austin Meadows relishes his health, first taste of majors". Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  10. ^ "Baseball – Meadows delivers on hype to become FSL All-Star for Marauders – Bradenton Herald". Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  11. ^ a b "Meadows injures eye". Altoona Mirror. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  12. ^ Singer, Tom (January 20, 2016). "Austin Meadows headed to Arizona Fall League | MLB.com". M.mlb.com. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  13. ^ "Pirates promote Meadows from Curve". Altoona Mirror. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  14. ^ "Pirates top prospect Austin Meadows getting major-league 'vibe'". Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  15. ^ "IL notes: Meadows ignoring the hype". MiLB.com. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  16. ^ "Austin Meadows Stats, Highlights, Bio - MiLB.com Stats - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  17. ^ Rob Biertempfel (November 20, 2017). "Pirates put Austin Meadows on 40-man roster; Gift Ngoepe traded". TribLIVE. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  18. ^ "New No. 1 Keller leads Pirates Top 30 Prospects list". MLB.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  19. ^ 3:41 pm ET (May 18, 2018). "Pittsburgh Pirates to call up top OF prospect Austin Meadows". Espn.com. Retrieved May 18, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  20. ^ 3:35 pm ET. "San Diego Padres at Pittsburgh Pirates Boxscore". Espn.com. Retrieved May 20, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ "Welcome". www.tribliveoffers.com.
  22. ^ "Archer excited to join surging Pirates after trade". ESPN.com. July 31, 2018.
  23. ^ a b "Austin Meadows Stats | Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  24. ^ "Rays' Meadows tests positive for COVID-19". MLB.com. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  25. ^ Topkin, Marc. "Rays activate Austin Meadows, option Trevor Richards". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  26. ^ "Major League Leaderboards » 2021 » Batters » Batted Ball Statistics | FanGraphs Baseball". www.fangraphs.com.
  27. ^ "Tigers acquire Austin Meadows from Tampa Bay in exchange for Isaac Paredes and competitive balance round b pick". MLB.com. April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  28. ^ Rogers, Jesse (September 2, 2022). "Detroit Tigers' Austin Meadows to miss rest of year due to injuries, mental health". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  29. ^ Kotila, Tyler (November 25, 2022). "Detroit Tigers: Austin Meadows set to return after adversity-filled 2022". fansided.com. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  30. ^ "Tigers Place Austin Meadows On 10-Day Injured List". MLB Trade Rumors. April 8, 2023. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  31. ^ "Tigers' Austin Meadows: Moves to 60-day IL". cbssports.com. May 2023. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  32. ^ "Tigers' Austin Meadows: Will not return this season". cbssports.com. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  33. ^ "Tigers Non-Tender Austin Meadows, Spencer Turnbull". MLB Trade Rumors. November 17, 2023. Retrieved November 18, 2023.
  34. ^ Romano, Jason (June 5, 2018). "Rookie Austin Meadows is red-hot in first month with Pittsburgh Pirates". Sports Spectrum. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  35. ^ Hummer, Steve. "Baseball draft goes through Loganville". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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