Tigers heart fielder Parker Meadows has halted baseball actions because of a nerve downside in his higher proper arm, supervisor A.J. Hinch advised reporters (together with MLive.com’s Evan Woodbery). It’s unclear at this level if Meadows might be prepared for the beginning of the season, because of what Hinch famous because the fluid nature of the damage.
“My understanding is that we’re in a wait-and-see state of affairs,” Hinch mentioned. “We’ve got to get that nerve firing once more for [Meadows] to renew baseball actions. It could possibly be short-term, or it might linger a bit. Nobody has a agency timeline, however we really feel like we’re on a superb path now that now we have a prognosis and a therapy plan.”
After hitting .232/.331/.368 over 145 plate appearances throughout his 2023 rookie season, Meadows took one other step ahead by batting .244/.310/.433 in 298 PA final yr, with the rise in slugging share fueling his soar from a 95 wRC+ in 2023 to a 111 wRC+ in 2024. The development didn’t are available in easy style, nevertheless, as Meadows hit so poorly over the primary six weeks that the Tigers demoted him to Triple-A in early Could, and didn’t recall him till early July. Upon returning to the Present, Meadows virtually instantly picked up a hamstring damage that put him on the injured checklist for an additional month.
Meadows was activated from the 10-day IL on August 3, and proceeded to hit a powerful .296/.340/.500 with six homers over his remaining 201 PA of the season whereas taking part in just about every single day in heart discipline. Between this manufacturing on the plate and his glorious glovework, Meadows was one of many key drivers of the late-season surge that noticed the Tigers go from deadline sellers to a wild card berth. Meadows then saved it stepping into October, batting .269/.345/.462 in 29 PA throughout Detroit’s playoff run.
If Meadows can proceed any such offense along with his sturdy protection and baserunning, the previous second-round decide initiatives as a cornerstone piece for a Tigers group that has emerged from its rebuild. The plan was for Meadows to once more be the on a regular basis heart fielder, although this nerve downside throws a attainable wrench within the works.
Riley Greene or Wenceel Perez are the likeliest candidates to deal with heart discipline if Meadows does have to miss time, however the bigger problem is that the Tigers could out of the blue have a scarcity of outfield depth. Information broke yesterday that utilityman Matt Vierling will begin the season on the IL whereas recovering from a rotator cuff pressure, leaving the Tigers with no participant projected to get taking part in time at both third base or proper discipline (or a mix of each positions). If Meadows’ nerve downside units him again sufficient that he’ll additionally have to hit the injured checklist, utilitymen Zach McKinstry or Andy Ibanez will get extra taking part in time in some capability, and Detroit might additionally make the most of Kerry Carpenter in proper discipline at any time when a right-handed pitcher is on the mound.
