What Detroit Tigers rookie Parker Meadows needs to do on offense as pitchers adjust to him

Detroit Tigers rookie Parker Meadows was always going to play elite defense in center field and utilize his elite speed on the bases, regardless of his performance on offense. No matter what he does with his bat, his glove and legs are valuable and should keep him in the starting lineup into the future.

Steady production on offense, though, will be needed to elevate Meadows into an elite all-around player at the big-league level. That has been the case since the Tigers selected Meadows with the No. 44 overall pick in the 2018 draft.

"My timing has been a little off and inconsistent," Meadows said. "It's just getting back to getting on the fastball and continuing to stick to my routine. This game can be fun, and this game can suck. At the end of the day, I'm going into every day still finding ways to be positive."

PULL-SIDE POWER: After 448-foot grand slam, Tigers' Matt Vierling shares 'get-ready-early' adjustment

The Tigers promoted Meadows, who received more than 2,100 plate appearances in the minor leagues, for his MLB debut on Aug. 21 against the Chicago Cubs at Comerica Park. Entering Saturday, the Tigers have played 23 games since Meadows' arrival, and the 23-year-old has started in center field for all but one of those games (though he later entered as a defensive replacement).

In his first 12 games, Meadows hit .302 (13-for-43) with two doubles, one triple, one home run, six walks and 14 strikeouts. President of baseball operations Scott Harris forecast what would happen next.

"In my job, I got to look at the whole picture here," Harris said Aug. 28 on WXYT-FM (97.1), after Meadows' sixth game. "Parker is not out of the woods yet. He's in this period of time where pitchers are adjusting to him. He's going to get to this period on the horizon where he has to adjust back to pitchers. He's a young player in the big leagues, and most young players in the big leagues do struggle. He will struggle at some point, but we feel confident that he's going to help us in the other facets of the game while he's still figuring it out at the plate."

Harris couldn't have been more accurate.

Since Sept. 3, Meadows is hitting .063 (2-for-32) with six walks and 10 strikeouts in 11 games. In Thursday's 8-2 win, he snapped an 0-for-28 slump with a single off Cincinnati Reds right-hander Ben Lively's 90.6 mph fastball in the seventh inning. The pitch was located middle-up in the strike zone.

Pitchers adjusted to Meadows with high-velocity fastballs.

"He's got to get on the fastball," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. "They're beating him with fastballs quite a bit. I think teams are paying attention and trying to make him honor velocity. I can see the league adjusting to him. ... Keep in mind, the first 10 or 20 at-bats, we weren't declaring anything. First 100, I'm not going to declare anything. It's just part of the growing and maturation."

E-ROD UNPLUGGED: Why Tigers' Eduardo Rodriguez has 4.50 ERA in 12 starts since return from injury

The Tigers showed their patience with Meadows in Wednesday's 4-3 loss to the Reds. Hinch had Javier Báez, a right-handed hitter, on the bench and available to serve as a pinch-hitter in a key moment — with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth inning — but he allowed Meadows, a left-handed hitter, to bat against left-handed reliever Sam Moll.

Meadows grounded out on a down-and-away 93.7 mph four-seam fastball.

"Giving this guy runway to see what he can do," Hinch said Wednesday night. "Those are big opportunities for him to grow and learn and battle against a left-handed pitcher. ... Where we're at right now, we're going to give our guys as many opportunities as we can to feel what it's like to be in a pressure moment."

Meadows has just two hits on four-seam fastballs at or above 93 mph: a triple on a 94.7 mph fastball from Hayden Wesneski (Cubs) on Aug. 22 and a single on a 93.3 mph fastball off Mike Clevinger (Chicago White Sox) on Sept. 2. Both hits occurred on fastballs located middle-middle.

In 23 games, Meadows is hitting .200 with 12 walks (13.3%) and 24 strikeouts (26.7%) across 90 plate appearances. He also has four stolen bases in four attempts.

Maintaining an upper-class walk rate (and respectable strikeout rate) is a positive sign in his development, and he hasn't allowed his struggles on offense to carry over to his defense or baserunning, but he needs to hit high-velocity fastballs to be productive at the plate.

"I'm just going to stay on the fastball and continue to lock in," Meadows said.

After Wednesday's bases-loaded fail, there was an important conversation between Meadows and Riley Greene. The talk between two of the youngest players on the roster offered a glimpse into the Tigers' newfound culture of development.

"If he sees something, he's going to let me know," Meadows said.

There have been strategical in-game conversations between Miguel Cabrera, Spencer Torkelson and Kerry Carpenter, among others, throughout the 2023 season, and that's not including the behind-the-scenes instruction from hitting coaches Michael Brdar, Keith Beauregard and James Rowson.

Right now, the Tigers have all hands on deck to help Meadows adjust on offense before the end of the season.

"It's definitely very helpful to have them," Meadows said. "They keep me sane and keep me positive."

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' Parker Meadows has a new challenge in MLB: Velocity