Detroit Tigers: Austin Meadows steps away from team again due to anxiety

Austin Meadows is dealing with mental health issues once again

The Detroit Tigers announced today that they've placed OF Austin Meadows on the 10-day IL with anxiety. It sounds like the mental health issues that plagued him last season have creeped back up again.

Here's the full statement from Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris:

"The Tigers fully support Austin's decision to step away from the team and prioritize his mental health. As an organization, we have taken steps to provide and destigmatize mental health resources, and we will do more to help our players tackle the mental and physical challenges they face on a daily basis. We commend Austin for confronting these challenges head-on and ask our fans to join us in supporting him through every step of his journey back to the field."

- Scott Harris

OF Akil Baddoo was recalled and replaces Meadows in the lineup today against Boston.

I genuinely feel bad for Meadows. He seemed fine in spring training. You have to wonder if the slow start to the season brought those demons from last year back.

At this point, it's tough to know when, or even if Meadows comes back. I personally would not blame him if he just can't take it anymore and retires. Mental health issues are no joke.

Lastly, we don't have any set rules in our comments section, but I'm setting one for this article: don't be insensitive toward Meadows. If you've gone through any type of mental health issues, such as anxiety or depression, then you know exactly what he's going through. It's awful. No one should have to suffer like that. The human brain can play evil tricks on you, and when it does, it's one of the worst feelings ever.

If you're fortunate enough to have not experienced mental health struggles, then please don't leave any rude comments about this situation. Like the old saying goes, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.

We here at Motor City Bengals wish nothing but the best for Austin Meadows and hope he can finally excerise those demons.