Tigers offer update on injured outfielder that everybody forgot about anyway

The clock is ticking on the Tigers if they want to move up the standings and potentially make a run at the postseason for a third straight year.

Scott Harris didn’t do this year’s club any favors by not addressing the bullpen and not adding another bat in the offseason. He also dealt the team’s best pitcher and top-three rotational option at the deadline, receiving some prospects in return.

While Harris is more concerned about next year and beyond, AJ Hinch still has his sights set on a postseason berth this year. To reach the postseason, he’ll have to make up 4.5 games (after Monday’s loss to the Rays) in the AL Wild Card race. Going into Tuesday's game, the Tigers were seven games out of first in the AL Central after this recent cold streak. While the bullpen has been the main issue, the offense has been lacking, too.

That’s where a guy like Parker Meadows could come into play. He’s been out since April 9 after colliding with Riley Greene in the outfield. He had multiple lacerations that needed to heal and he was left with a concussion as well as a fractured radius in his left forearm. It looked to be a completely lost season for the 26-year-old outfielder.

According to the Detroit News, though, Hinch hasn’t given up on the idea of Meadows returning at some point this season, but he did say that there are still some lingering issues.

While Hinch believes that there’s still a chance that Meadows returns to the lineup at some point by the end of September, it sounds like he’s still struggling with his swing motion thanks to that radius fracture. His timing is still a little off, but they’re working on that in Lakeland.

If the playoff hopes hinge on a Meadows return, the Tigers may as well look ahead to next season, but Meadows isn’t going to make that big of a difference, especially with the bullpen falling apart.

It’d be nice to add an extra bat and a guy who could appear at the top of the order with his speed or at the bottom to give the 7-9 hitters a boost. If anything, getting him back and playing at full-strength would be more so for his confidence rather than a playoff push.

Still, 4.5 isn’t insurmountable with 31 games left. We’ve seen it happen before.

Parker Meadows should be a staple in next year’s lineup

Whether he returns this season or not, Meadows needs to be part of the future plans in Detroit. He’s just 26, he has really good speed and a little pop in his bat, too.

Meadows has 24 steals in 189 career games with Detroit and he also has 16 home runs and 59 RBI. He’s played about a season’s worth of games, so that wouldn’t be a bad yearly number for the team’s third or fourth-best outfielder. An outfield with Greene, Max Clark, and Meadows would give the team some plus fielding as well as an extra dose of speed.

Throw in Zyhir Hope, and the Tigers could have one of the best young outfields in the game with the perfect combination of speed, contact hitting, and power.

It would still be nice to have him back this season at some point. That’s still a possibility.

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