Right hamstring injury lands top prospect Meadows on DL

The right hamstring strain Austin Meadows suffered Wednesday has landed him on the disabled list.

Meadows, the Pirates' No. 1 prospect, and infielder Gift Ngoepe (left hamstring strain) were placed on the seven-day minor-league disabled list by Triple-A Indianapolis on Thursday. Outfielder Justin Maffei and infielder/outfielder Anderson Feliz have taken their spots on the roster.



Meadows, an outfielder and the No. 6 prospect in baseball, was removed following the first inning of Indianapolis’ 4-0 loss to Toledo Wednesday afternoon after feeling discomfort in his right hamstring and had an MRI to determine the severity of the injury.

Ngoepe, who batted .222 in 28 games with the Pirates this season, has not played since Monday, when he was removed in the third inning after reaching on an infield single. He is batting .217 at Triple-A and continued to be more of an asset in the field than at the plate.

The Pirates are likely handling Meadows cautiously because of his injury history.

Meadows, who is just 21 years old, earned a promotion to Triple-A last season but was limited to 42 games because of a right hamstring injury. He tried playing through it, but was forced to sit once the pain affected his performance.

Meadows finished the season with the Indians batting .214 with six home runs and 24 RBI in 145 plate appearances. During the offseason he did yoga to improve his flexibility, focusing on how to stay healthy in 2017.

After excelling in spring training this year, Meadows started slow in 2017, a product of what Indianapolis manager Andy Barkett described to DKPittsburghSports.com as “outside pressures” that come with being a top prospect, particularly after the suspension of Starling Marté.

He had a 1-for-23 slump to start the season before raising his average to .262 on May 28. His average has since dipped to .249.