One year ago, Austin Meadows was viewed as an elite young player, ranked by Baseball America at No. 6 among its top 100 prospects.
However, an injury-shortened season has changed that perception.
Meadows, a 22-year-old outfielder, fell 38 spots to No. 44 in Baseball America's annual prospect rankings for 2018, and fellow Pirates prospect Mitch Keller, a 21-year-old right-handed starting pitcher, rose 10 spots to be ranked No. 12.
They were the club's only two prospects ranked by the publication.
Meadows, a first-round pick in 2013, has been slowed by injuries the past two seasons.
A broken orbital bone kept Meadows out of the lineup until April 25, 2016, but he batted .311 with 16 doubles, six home runs and 23 RBI in 190 plate appearances for Double-A Altoona. He was promoted to Triple-A in July but suffered a hamstring injury in his 12th game. Meadows batted just .214 in 145 plate appearances at that level in 2016, but he was still ranked among the top prospects in baseball entering 2017. He also missed the Arizona Fall League season because of an oblique injury.
Many expected him to make his major-league debut in 2017, especially with Andrew McCutchen the subject of trade rumors last December and after Meadows reshaped his offseason workout regimen.
But his progress hit another roadblock. When Starling Marte was suspended 80 games this past April, Meadows began to struggle at Triple-A, beginning the season in a 1-for-23 slump.
“When you look back on it, for me, I think maybe I was putting too much pressure on myself,” Meadows told DKPittsburghSports.com in Bradenton earlier this month. “I was trying to do too much. Not really being where I was, not being where my feet were. I was worrying about things I couldn’t control. That’s going to hurt you in the long run. … I need to take care of what I can and worry about where I’m at.”
He lifted his average to .248 in June, but a hamstring strain forced him to miss six weeks. Meadows then started to excel upon his return in August, but he suffered an oblique injury that effectively ended his season.
His first ‘full’ season in Triple-A ended with a .250 average, .311 on-base percentage and .359 slugging percentage with 36 RBI in 72 games.
Although McCutchen's departure creates a vacancy in left field, the Pirates are unlikely to call upon Meadows at the start of 2018. He'll have to prove himself at Triple-A to surpass Adam Frazier and Jordan Luplow as outfield options in the major leagues.
Keller, though, had another impressive season in 2017 after he was named one of the the Pirates' top prospects last winter. A second-round pick in 2014, Keller spent most of the season at High-A Bradenton, where he went 6-3 with a 3.14 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 64 strikeouts to 20 walks in 77 1/3 innings.
He was recalled to Altoona, where he helped the Curve win the Eastern League championship. Keller had a 3.12 ERA and 1.03 WHIP in 34 2/3 innings there.
He then built on that performance with an outstanding showing in the Arizona Fall League. Keller went 4-0 with a 1.52 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 23 2/3 innings.
Shortstop Kevin Newman was ranked No. 55 last season, but he is not ranked entering 2018 after struggling offensively. Newman was a first-round pick of the Pirates in 2015 and batted ..267/.311/.363 in 122 games between Double-A and Triple-A this past season. The 24-year-old is among the Pirates' 23 non-roster invitees this spring.
Josh Bell and Tyler Glasnow, both of whom were ranked entering this past season, exhausted their prospect status.
The Braves have a league-high eight players ranked among the Top 100 while the Brewers have six. The Cardinals and Reds have four and five players ranked, respectively.