Starling Marte's return from the 10-day disabled list on Saturday did not signal the end of Austin Meadows' tenure with the Pirates. Meadows, recalled last Friday to take Marte's spot on the 25-man roster, will remain in the major leagues to serve as a "true fourth outfielder" and will play all three spots to give the starters rest in a difficult stretch of the schedule.
The Pirates chose to option Jose Osuna to Triple-A Indianapolis to make room for Marte, who will start in center field and bat third against the Cardinals Saturday at PNC Park. Clint Hurdle told reporters the initial plan was for Meadows to likely return to Triple-A once Marte returned from a strained right oblique; however, the plan changed when the 23-year-old outfielder batted .448 with two doubles, a triple, three home runs and five RBIs in seven games.
"I think that’s the understanding we all wanted to have coming in, and then his performance was eye-catching," Hurdle said. "Very similar to the performance of a young man who was here a few years ago: Gregory Polanco, who started his major league career with an 11-game hitting streak. We’ll see where this all goes. However, for us to continue to try to put our roster together the best way, we (now) have the opportunity to do so. With the stretch of games that are coming up it seemed like the tactical baseball move to make."
Marte, 29, was batting .308 with a .869 OPS in 41 games before suffering the injury in the first inning of a win over the White Sox last Tuesday. In addition to giving him time off, Meadows will get reps in both left and right field. Corey Dickerson is batting .319 with a .863 OPS and is the only qualified hitter in the National League with more extra-base hits than strikeouts, but he's played more than 100 games in the outfield only once in his career.
The 29-year-old played the outfield in 93 games for the Rays last season, serving as the team's designated hitter for 53 games. Additionally, Polanco was limited to 108 games last season because of a lingering hamstring injury and is batting .148 with runners in scoring position, which caused Hurdle to move him from second to seventh in the Pirates' lineup.
Polanco is batting .213 with a .757 OPS, with eight home runs and 22 RBIs. The 26-year-old has slashed .197/.304/.339 over his last 34 games, and he's continued to struggle against left-handers. Meadows, on the other hand, is 3 for 7 against lefties and was batting .378 against them at Triple-A.
The challenge, though, is that Meadows has started only 20 games in right field during his minor-league career, and he's never served as a bench player. Hurdle said the Pirates thought keeping him over Osuna was the best fit for their bench entering a stretch where they have only two days off in the next month.
Osuna batted .250 with a .736 OPS in five starts, yet he was only 2 for 9 in pinch-hit opportunities. Also, he can't match Meadows' outfield versatility. Hurdle said previously Osuna can only play right field in certain ballparks, PNC Park included. Osuna's other two positions — first base and third base — can both be played by David Freese.
"We’ll see where it all goes, but I do believe it may give us more depth," Hurdle said. "It gives us a stronger bench, and it’s going to afford us an opportunity to keep the three frontline outfielders, I think, in a better physical condition than we ever could have afforded before."
Meadows, ranked sixth in Baseball America’s top 100 entering last season, batting .294/.336/.397 with 10 doubles, one home run and 15 RBIs in 32 games at Triple-A Indianapolis. He was limited to 72 games there last season because of hamstring and oblique injuries, and his 2016 was also shortened by a hamstring injury.
Drafted ninth overall in 2013, Meadows had two singles in his major league debut against the Padres last Friday and hit his first home run two days laster. He has a 1.345 OPS with five multi-hit games and has yet to receive a day off. He isn't in the lineup Saturday, though.
"It all goes into the picture," Hurdle said. "You have those conversations. He's played a week straight before; however, this one of the ways that we can keep him here. When Polanco's playing well, everybody likes it. When Marte's playing well, everybody likes it. When Dickerson's playing well, everybody likes it. Nobody wants anybody out of the lineup. These guys do need time out of the lineup just to stay in a good spot. So it's not easy by any means, but there are decisions that need to be made."