DETROIT – The Detroit Tigers have sent Parker Meadows down to the minor leagues in favor of a hot-hitting utility bat.
Meadows, 24, has been one of the best outfielders and base runners in MLB over the first six weeks of the season. But he’s also been one of the league’s worst hitters.
Meadows is batting .096 with two home runs and 32 strikeouts across 85 plate appearances. He’s making some of the weakest contact in MLB (4th percentile average exit velocity and 11th percentile hard-hit rate) and striking out far too often.
Other than his 12.9% walk rate, Meadows hasn’t shown any strengths at the plate this season.
The Tigers gave Meadows plenty of time to find a rhythm at the plate because they value his elite defense in center field, but after they mustered just one run in a fourth-straight loss Monday night, they decided it was time to make a move.
Ryan Vilade will take Meadows’ place on the roster after hitting .333 with three homers and eight doubles across 27 games with the Toledo Mud Hens.
Sawyer Gipson-Long, who is out due to Tommy John surgery, was placed on the 60-day injured list to make room for Vilade on the 40-man roster.
Vilade hit .265 for the Tigers during spring training, but struck out in one-third of his plate appearances. Strikeouts have also been an issue at Triple-A -- 24 in 88 plate appearances. That means Vilade has whiffed in 27.3% of his trips to the plate against Triple-A pitching.
But there’s no denying the production. Vilade has 26 hits and eight walks, which is good for a .398 on-base percentage. He’s also stolen eight bases in nine attempts.
The Tigers added Vilade during the offseason after he was dropped by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He has posted strong OBPs throughout his minor-league career since being drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the second round in 2017.
In three games at the MLB level for the Rockies in 2021, Vilade went 0-for-6 with a walk and a strikeout. He hasn’t played a major-league game since.
The Tigers are 18-17 and five games behind the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central. They also trail both the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals by 2.5 games.
Detroit has gotten a nice boost from the minor leagues this season. Buddy Kennedy gave the offense a brief boost in late April, and Wenceel Perez remains one of the team’s most productive hitters since receiving regular playing time.
