Stock Watch: Scouts Question Austin Meadows’ Ultimate Impact

Austin Meadows’ performance this season could best be compared with a well-painted beige wall or a perfectly-cooked saltine cracker. Considering that Meadows was one of the younger players in Triple-A, his .248/.313/.358 batting line wasn’t bad—it just didn’t excite anyone.

VERDICT

Meadows’ hamstring issues have kept him off the field again.

Stock Is Headed:

Meadows, the Pirates’ first-round pick in 2013, needs to get healthy. He has spent time on the disabled list with a hamstring strain in two of the previous three seasons.

But beyond Meadows’ hamstring issues, scouts often have left their coverage of Triple-A Indianapolis hoping they had seen something more. The 22-year-old has yet to consistently show the power that he’ll need to be a middle-of-the-order bat. He has worked on being more aggressive this season, but that’s led to him expanding his zone and getting into tougher hitter’s counts.

Scouts still view Meadows as an everyday big leaguer, but more and more, they question just how much impact he will have. Before he was shut down in late June with a hamstring injury, Meadows had hit just four home runs and stolen 10 bases.

Meadows struggled following a midseason promotion to Indianapolis last year, and through 101 games at the Triple-A level he had hit just .237/.308/.392.