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On Monday night, Riley Greene performed a defensive place aside from heart area for the primary time in his large league profession. When the Tigers took the sphere in opposition to the Cubs within the prime 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 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 beneath 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 prompt 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 burdened that the transfer “doesn’t imply (Greene’s) days in heart are over,” it appears Meadows will get the majority of the taking part in time there down the stretch.
The combined at finest defensive opinions aren’t fully sudden. Most prospect evaluators prompt Greene was more likely to wind up in a nook spot at the same time as he was coming by way of the minor league ranks. Whereas Greene has first rate velocity, the spacious Comerica Park outfield leaves a variety of floor to cowl.
As Harris identified, Greene has additionally handled a pair of serious decrease physique accidents. He broke his proper foot throughout final yr’s Spring Coaching — an damage that fairly possible delayed his MLB debut by a couple of months — and suffered a stress fracture in his left leg this Could. It’s attainable that barely lightening his defensive obligations might assist him keep away from future damage.
Greene additionally merely hits properly sufficient that he doesn’t want to stay in heart area to be a precious 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 decide has all the time been considered 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 prime minor league degree. Meadows has energy potential and attracts a good variety of walks however has run barely elevated whiff numbers all through his profession. That features a larger than common 23.8% strikeout share this season. There’d be extra leeway for Meadows to be an on a regular basis participant if he’s taking part in in the course of the diamond than in a nook, the place the offensive expectations are a bit larger.
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