Parker Meadows a shining example of Detroit Tigers development win in 2024

The Detroit Tigers hope center fielder Parker Meadows can become the poster boy for the franchise's continued development.

The Tigers have question marks in different areas of the roster entering their first offseason after a playoff run in 10 years, but center field looks locked down due to Meadows' emergence in the second half of the season.

Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris on Monday identified Meadows as one of the perfect examples of the development the Tigers want to continue to see from their young players.

"The second thing we talked about was trying to create this culture of development and that's happening at all levels of this organization," Harris said in his opening address during an end-of-season news conference at Comerica Park. "Look no further than Parker Meadows. First half compared to second half, he got way better. There are lots of young players transforming in this organization that are getting a lot better and they're really helping us win."

Meadows was the Tigers' starting center fielder on Opening Day, but was demoted to Triple-A Toledo after hitting .092 in April. He worked on his timing and swing, and was brought back to the majors in early July.

A hamstring injury shut him down for a bit, but Meadows was a fulcrum of the Tigers' late-season success as one of the best defensive center fielders in baseball, along with hitting .300 with seven home runs and 25 RBIs in those 50 games . The Tigers had a 36-14 record in his appearances, and relied on him heavily to anchor's the defense and provide pop and speed out of the leadoff spot against right-handed pitching.

He also had a hit in all seven postseason games.

"It is amazing the effect that he has on our pitching staff, like every time he catches the ball in the gap that most center fielders can't catch, that's leverage," Harris said. "If he doesn't catch that, then there's someone on second or third or scoring. It is a huge run-value swing every time he goes into a gap or climbs a wall or robs a homer — those are huge building blocks for us. I've talked about outfield defense since the moment I got here, (and) having him in the middle of the field is so comforting to both of us because of that effect he has defensively."

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Harris and manager A.J. Hinch are encouraged by his ascension at the plate , too. Meadows showed a better knack for handling high-velocity fastballs, and used the whole field to spray balls and take advantage of his speed.

"I think at the plate, the adjustments he's made, especially against velocity in the second half, have really opened up his approach at the plate," Harris said.

So, how exactly does Meadows take the offseason steps of improvement that Harris and Hinch want to see from the entirety of the young core?

"I'll tell you how he can get better, he can call off Wenceel Pérez in right-center field," Hinch said, drawing laughter in reference to Meadows and Pérez's collision on the final out of the playoff-clinching win .

Hinch said Meadows already has "elite defense" in center field, and will continue to mature into a better hitter as he ages. He gave an example from the ALDS loss to the Cleveland Guardians, saying Meadows tried to pull everything off left-handed pitcher Matthew Boyd in Game 2 to no success, but made the necessary adjustment for an opposite-field double off Boyd in Game 5.

"In Game 2, he gets up with a really big at-bat against Matt Boyd," Hinch said. "(Boyd) is spinning him some sliders and (Meadows) is pulling off and pulling off and pulling off, trying to play hero. Fast forward to Game 5 and what's the first thing he does? You go back and watch his at-bat, he goes backside down the (left field) line for a double."

Harris said it was the perfect encapsulation of the growth Meadows took this summer and what he wants to continue to see from his center fielder entering 2025 spring training.

"I think there are things that he can do, especially left-on-left, to help him stay in games and be more of a threat and help him get on base, because we know the type of threat he can be on base," Harris said.

Both Harris and Hinch were quick to note this could be just the tip of what Meadows' MLB career looks like given his two-way potential and age. Meadows, who will turn 25 on Nov. 2, has played less than a full season of MLB games, 119, over the past two seasons .

Harris said as his number of plate appearances grows against top pitching, his ability at the plate will follow suit along with his physical development.

"I think he's going to get bigger, he's going to get stronger and he's going to get more experience with the day-to-day approaches that will make him successful this year," Harris said. "I mean, he's barely completed a full season at this point. So a lot of the times that he's stepping in the box and he doesn't know the pitchers at all and he's not familiar with them.

"We do the best job we can to prepare these guys for what they're facing, but until you actually stand in the box and actually see the shapes and how quickly the fastball gets on you and how much different (pitch) shapes tunnel, you don't really know. So I think, naturally, he's going to become better as he gets more experience."

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Meadows is one of the many young players the Tigers will try to extract the most out of before Opening Day in 2025 at the Los Angeles Dodgers , and they are confident in his ability to take that next step as the everyday center fielder.

"He's just scratching the surface," Hinch said. "So when Scott talks about players that impressed you that still have a long ways to go and still have areas to improve, Parker Meadows is one of them. He was arguably the best player that we had on that given day in Game 5, but trust me, my staff and I would not let him be the same player moving forward because there are tons of areas for him to attack."

Jared Ramsey is a sports reporter for the Detroit Free Press covering the city's professional teams, the state's two flagship universities and more. Follow Jared on X @jared_ramsey22 , and email him at jramsey@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Parker Meadows a shining example of Detroit Tigers development win in 2024