On Monday night, Riley Greene performed a defensive place apart from heart area for the primary time in his huge league profession. When the Tigers took the sector in opposition to the Cubs within the high of the primary inning, Greene was in proper area, whereas the newly recalled Parker Meadows was manning heart in his MLB debut.
Meadows has been a middle fielder since he was taken out of highschool within the second spherical of the 2018 draft. Baseball America praised his fielding this offseason, naming him one of the best defensive outfielder within the Tigers’ system and giving his glove a 60 (plus) on the 20-to-80 scouting scale. In the meantime, Greene has posted middling to below-average marks in heart area.
In 79 video games this season, he has dedicated 5 errors and recorded just one outfield help. Defensive Runs Saved has pegged Greene as eight runs under common in 675 innings. Solely Esteury Ruiz and Víctor Robles have a decrease DRS on the place. Statcast hasn’t been fairly so bearish, pegging Greene as precisely a league common defender.
Regardless, Tigers supervisor A.J. Hinch and president of baseball operations Scott Harris urged that Meadows would take over the first heart area duties (hyperlinks through Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press and Cody Stavenhagen of the Athletic). Whereas Hinch pressured that the transfer “doesn’t imply (Greene’s) days in heart are over,” it appears Meadows will get the majority of the enjoying time there down the stretch.
The blended at finest defensive evaluations aren’t utterly surprising. Most prospect evaluators urged Greene was more likely to wind up in a nook spot whilst he was coming by way of the minor league ranks. Whereas Greene has respectable velocity, the spacious Comerica Park outfield leaves numerous floor to cowl.
As Harris identified, Greene has additionally handled a pair of serious decrease physique accidents. He broke his proper foot throughout final 12 months’s Spring Coaching — an damage that fairly probably delayed his MLB debut by just a few months — and suffered a stress fracture in his left leg this Might. It’s doable that barely lightening his defensive tasks might assist him keep away from future damage.
Greene additionally merely hits effectively sufficient that he doesn’t want to stay in heart area to be a helpful participant. His .838 OPS and 133 wRC+ would rank third amongst AL outfielders if he had sufficient plate appearances to qualify for the batting title. The previous fifth general choose has all the time been thought to be an offense-first participant. That’s not the case for Meadows, whose profile comes with some swing-and-miss considerations.
Meadows has hit .256/.337/.474 by way of 517 Triple-A plate appearances on the season. That’s roughly common offense in a really hitter-friendly setting on the high minor league stage. Meadows has energy potential and attracts an honest variety of walks however has run barely elevated whiff numbers all through his profession. That features a increased than common 23.8% strikeout proportion this season. There’d be extra leeway for Meadows to be an on a regular basis participant if he’s enjoying in the midst of the diamond than in a nook, the place the offensive expectations are a bit increased.
