TOLEDO, Ohio — Parker Meadows came out of the Toledo Mud Hens clubhouse, holding a candy bar.
“It’s my desert,” he shrugged and smiled.
Meadows has this cool vibe. Relaxed and confident.
And that’s how he is playing at Triple-A Toledo.
After getting off to a slow start this season, Meadows has been showing off his impressive power and speed. Over the past 28 days, Meadows hit four homers, seven doubles and two triples in 22 games, hitting .319 with a .924 OPS.
“I think it’s just repetitions,” Meadows said. “Obviously the pitching is better here, and it took me a while to get used to that. When they miss, they miss small.”
But when Meadows hits big, he hits really big — he has nine homers in 67 games.
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While it seems like Meadows has been around the Detroit Tigers organization forever — the Tigers drafted him out of high school in 2018’s second round — it is important to remember that he’s just 23. Only Justyn-Henry Malloy and pitcher Jack O’Loughlin are younger than Meadows on the Mud Hens roster.
“He’s not doing anything differently,” Toledo manager Anthony Iapoce said. “You can see over this three-week stretch, he’s been hitting a lot of balls to left-center hard into gaps. He’s got a bunch of doubles and some homers … he’s getting ready earlier and in control more. He’s laying off pitches, all the good things that come with confidence when you get a couple of hits.”
Meadows in the Tigers’ 10th-best prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. But he doesn’t feel any pressure.
“I don’t press at all,” he said. “I don’t like to think about anything, other than the present. I’m just trying to do whatever I can to win the day. So there was no pressure, no pressing. None of that.”
Getting hot at the right time
Meadows has had a slow climb through the Tigers minor league system.
He seemed stuck in place.
Last season, he started out with High-A West Michigan — which he first joined in 2019, although it was Low-A at the time — but then got hot and climbed to Double-A Erie.
And then, he got even hotter.
He finished 2022 with a .270 batting average, 20 home runs and an .819 OPS in 127 games with West Michigan (14 games) and Double-A Erie (113 games).
That was enough for him to earn a spot on the 40-man roster, preventing him from being taken in the Rule 5 draft.
He had a fantastic spring training this year, hitting .317 with five homers in 21 games.
“It was cool,” Meadows said. “I think that was good for me to show out in front of not only the players but some coaches, just kind of show what I can do. It was a successful spring training for me, but at the end of the day, it’s spring training. It doesn’t really matter.”
“Oh, come on, it does a little,” I said.
“It does, but to me, it doesn’t,” he said. “It’s kind of what you do here in the regular season. But like I said, it was cool. I’ve been around a lot of big leaguers and to be able to perform in front of them is cool.”
Oh, brother
When you see Meadows play center field you think: He just looks like a major leaguer.
It’s like it’s in his DNA.
Which might not be an exaggeration.
He is the younger brother of Tigers outfielder Austin Meadows, who is on the 60-day injured list because of anxiety.
“The reports that we have received from Austin are positive,” Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris told reporters earlier this week. “He is working through treatment. He is also working out. He is in a very healthy environment for him and his progress. We’re keeping tabs on him. We’re rooting like hell for him. That’s about all I can share right now.”
Austin recently left Detroit and returned to his home in Florida to continue working on his mental and physical health.
“He kind of went through a similar thing last year, so it’s been a little frustrating,” Parker said. “I think at the end of the day, he’s got to realize it’s temporary. It’s not long lasting. But he’s doing a lot better. And he hopes to make a return, he hopes, so we’ll see.”
I applaud Austin for making this so public. It’s a positive thing to talk about mental health issues.
Parker time
Prospects develop on their own timetable.
MLB teams have to always consider the risk of giving up on somebody too soon.
The Tigers have been wisely patient by refusing to give up on Meadows and letting him develop at his own pace, despite several injuries in their outfield.
“He’s learning about himself, learning about the league,” Iapoce said. “How guys are getting him out.”
In April, Meadows hit .240 with 26 strikeouts and 14 walks.
In May, he hit .231 with 24 strikeouts and 12 walks.
“He never wavered,” Iapoce said. “I think he learned how to persevere through some stuff at a very tough level, facing some tough pitching. It’s good to see him — he’s maturing in the box.”
It was Wednesday afternoon and Meadows had an 11-game hitting streak, a stretch in which he was hitting .360 with a crazy 1.025 OPS.
“Just taking advantage of the fastball, being aggressive early in the count and it’s been paying off so far,” he said.
Again, Parker is just 23. He’s still developing and getting better — at his own pace.
A left-handed hitter, who hits dingers, can play center field and run like the wind?
Yeah, you wait for a kid like that.
The reward could be tremendous.
Contact Jeff Seidel at jseidel@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @seideljeff.
To read Seidel’s recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel.