Neal Huntington says Austin Meadows was hitting like "Babe Ruth" back in May when he was named the National League's Rookie of the Month.
Lately, though, he's been more Mike Pagliarulo than the Bambino.
To the surprise of no one, the Pirates optioned their 2013 first-round draft pick back to Class AAA Indianapolis on Sunday along with Clay Holmes, the winning pitcher in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader against Milwaukee. Right-handed pitcher Tanner Anderson was recalled.
Meadows, who was in the clubhouse Sunday morning prior to the finale of the five-game series against the Brewers, had been benched in recent games in favor of Jordan Luplow, who hit two home runs Saturday.
The logic behind demoting Meadows, Huntington says, is that it would benefit him to play every day.
"We brought him up because we felt like he was our best player at that point in time," Huntington said. "We’ve sent him out because it doesn’t make any sense to put a young prospect and leave him on the bench to play once or twice a week."
Also, by sending him down, it delays him from reaching Super-2 status. Players must accrue at least three years of service time before becoming arbitration-eligible. Players with between two and three years of service may be eligible if they rank in the top 22 percent of service time among that group. However, Huntington denied there being any financial motivation.
Upon being recalled May 18, Meadows had two hits in his big-league debut vs. San Diego and hit his first career home run two nights later. He batted .409 with three doubles, four home runs and seven RBIs in his first 13 games. He was hitting .346 with a 1.027 OPS in his first 22 games; however, he’s struck out 22 times to only three walks in his past 23 games.
He's had just 30 at bats this month, including a walk Saturday, and is slashing .233/.258/.267 in July.
"We’re thrilled with where Austin is going to go and to get this taste of major league ballparks, major league pitchers, major league environment," Huntington said. "Major league success, major league struggles are all a great set of experiences for him.
"Again, I don’t envision us putting him in a fourth outfield role any time this year, but he could also force our hand and if we have another injury — when we have another injury, because that’s the game — we have a young man that’s had a great set of experiences and provided he goes and continues to do what he’s done, he'll put himself in an opportunity to be that guy."
Meadows had been part of a four-man outfield rotation with Corey Dickerson, Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco. However, all three veterans have played well of late as the Pirates have won seven of their last eight heading into Sunday.
“This is the major leagues. Where we are right now, it’s about winning," Huntington said. "And Corey Dickerson, Gregory Polanco and Starling Marte, in part because of Austin Meadows’ really good stretch or run early, where we were able to get them all right. The past month, a little bit. The comparison, the production, there’s no comparison. Those three have been tremendously productive and Austin hasn’t been."
Additionally, the 24-year-old Luplow has gone 3 for 14 with an .857 OPS. Huntington said he blamed himself for not bringing him up sooner to add a right-handed bat to face a stretch of left-handed pitchers.
"Jordan could have helped us and I missed that window of opportunity in part because Austin had played so well the first 10 to 11 days that he’d been up here.," he said. "Once Austin wasn’t in that mix on a nightly basis to be that best lineup for that game, to win a game, it made sense to get him out at that time."