Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, along with most of the other Detroit Tigers beat writers are reporting that their sources indicate that centerfielder Parker Meadows will be demoted to Triple-A Toledo before Tuesday’s game with the Cleveland Guardians. Five weeks into the season, and with a host of struggling hitters, it was pretty clear that some changes were coming, and Meadows makes good sense as the first move.
The 24-year-old has actually been more valuable than Javier Báez, Spencer Torkelson, or Colt Keith, because Meadows has two home runs, three stolen bases, and continues to play a pretty high end defensive center field. The problem, is that unlike those three, Meadows is striking out nearly 40 percent of the time. With Wenceel Perez playing a solid center field and swinging the bat pretty well, Meadows’ playing time has been drastically cut down in recent weeks, and there’s really no way to get it going when you’re only getting 15-20 plate appearances per week. Meadows needs to go down and play everyday to try to get back on track.
Per Petzold, the Tigers are expected to add 25-year-old right-handed hitting outfielder, Ryan Vilade to the 40-man roster and call him to Detroit in Meadows’ place. The Tigers could really use a right-handed contributor in the lineup with only Mark Canha producing among that group of hitters. We’ll see Vilade can offer anything.
Vialde was drafted with the 48th overall pick out of high school back in 2017 by the Colorado Rockies. He got off to a good start in his pro career, reaching Triple-A as a 22-year-old in 2021, but couldn’t crack even the Rockies roster in 2022. He was claimed in November of that year by the Pittsburgh Pirates, and spent all of 2023 with their Triple-A affiliate, where he posted a good on-base percentage, but with a pretty mediocre strikeout rate, six home runs, and seven stolen bases. He’s been off to a really good start in Toledo, slashing .333/.398/.551 with three home runs in 27 games, with eight stolen bases. So, it’s possible the Tigers can ride the hot hand here for a little while, but I wouldn’t get your hopes too big.
Vilade has always been fairly hitterish, and grades out with average power that he hasn’t really ever tapped into with any consistency. He does spray a lot of line drives to all fields, and currently has an excellent 30.9 percent line drive rate going for the Mud Hens. While he’s played a few games in center field this season, he’s really a corner outfielder and could see time in either corner. He has enough speed and instincts to be a pretty solid option defensively, and has played both corner infield positions in the past.
However, I assume the reason he’s getting a look right now, with Gio Urshela likely to return in the next week, is that they need to find some balance in their lineup for matchups. Yes, they need a lot more than better match-up options, but right now A.J. Hinch has precious little behind Andy Ibánez and Matt Vierling on the bench to match up against left-handed starters and relievers. Vilade has been one of the Mud Hens most consistent hitters, and the Tigers clearly need some help.
Of all the regulars in Toledo’s lineup, Ryan Vilade’s advanced numbers stand out:
.237 ISO (second to Pérez)
93.1MPH 95th EV
44.6% Hard Hit (second to Pérez)
56 balls in play. https://t.co/4JOSRL9qBX— Rogelio Castillo (@rogcastbaseball) May 7, 2024
The other player who fits that bill would be Justyn-Henry Malloy, but with Malloy still making a lot of soft contact and still pretty vulnerable to pitchers who can spot their breaking ball, the Tigers clearly don’t think he’s ready for a look just yet. That feels like a bit of an indictment in his second year at the level, but perhaps it’s more that this is expected to be a pretty short-term move looking for a little spark before Urshela returns.
Vilade isn’t currently on the 40-man roster, but it looks like the Tigers can move RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long to the 60-day IL to open a spot for him, so perhaps it’s not that big a deal to add him to the 40-man rather than adding Malloy sooner than they planned. Still, my first reaction to the news of Meadows’ demotion was that it would probably be Akil Baddoo called up, with Malloy the second most likely option.
Either way, this is mainly about trying to get Meadows enough consistent plate appearances to get on track, and to get another right-handed bat into a lineup that is having trouble matching up against lefties, and is obviously having trouble of all sorts beyond that. We’ll see if they can catch a hot hand in Vilade for a little while, but in general, there’s no one likely to ride to the rescue from Toledo at this point.