‘No definitive plan’ for Detroit Tigers’ Austin Meadows (anxiety) to begin baseball activities

Detroit Free Press

The Detroit Tigers have been in contact with Austin Meadows.

But Meadows, who hasn’t played for the Tigers since April 6 due to anxiety, isn’t doing any baseball activities while getting mental health treatment at his home in Florida. There’s no timetable for him to begin baseball activities.

A return to the Tigers this season seems improbable with less than two months remaining.

“He’s seen some incremental gains,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said Saturday. “He’s also still had some rough times. He’s not doing any baseball activity right now to speak of. We’re still hopeful that he’s going to get up and running and get going. It hasn’t been a smooth road for him.”

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The former All-Star outfielder, making $4.3 million this season, has a .248 batting average with zero home runs, 16 walks and 20 strikeouts across 42 games with the Tigers in the 2022-23 seasons.

The 28-year-old has played six games in 2023.

“We’ve been in contact with him an his team, but there’s no definitive plan to get him back into baseball activity,” Hinch said. “Until that time, there’s really no more update than that. That’s the next step for him, and until that happens, we can’t really think about what’s ahead.”

The Tigers acquired Meadows in April 2022 from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for infielder Isaac Paredes and the No. 71 draft pick (used to select Ryan Cermak). Paredes, 24, has a .232 batting average with 41 home runs, 84 walks and 134 strikeouts in 209 games with the Rays in the 2022-23 seasons.

Hinch said Meadows has “traveled to a few different places to continue trying to get better,” along with receiving mental health treatment in Florida. Meadows’ younger brother, center fielder Parker Meadows, is hitting .261 with 17 home runs, 50 walks and 111 strikeouts in 101 games for Triple-A Toledo.

Meadows, who is on the 60-day injured list, is under team control through the 2024 season, but if the Tigers don’t want to bring him back next year, he could be non-tendered in November, which would force him into free agency.

Another option, if the Tigers decide to tender him a contract for the 2024 season, would be to put him on the unpaid restricted list.

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A death in the family

The Tigers scratched Javier Báez, who was supposed to play shortstop on defense and hit seventh in the batting order, from Saturday’s game against the Rays due to a death in the family.

He could be placed on the bereavement list.

If so, Báez will be away from the Tigers for three-to-seven days.

The 30-year-old is hitting .224 with seven home runs in 104 games this season, posting a .588 on-base-plus-slugging percentage. If he would have played Saturday, it would have been his first time batting seventh in the lineup since 2020.

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

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