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The Pittsburgh Pirates are off to a strong start to the 2018 season as they currently lead the notoriously tough NL Central with a 25-16 record. Their offense, despite the loss of Andrew McCutchen, has been a big reason why as they are top five in the league in runs scored and fWAR from their position players while also being very tough to strike out.
The Pirates seem to think that, given their status at the top of the division, that they want to stay there and are calling up some reinforcements in the form of their #2 prospect according to MLB Pipeline (and #42 overall), Austin Meadows.
OFFICIAL: The Pirates announce tonight we intend to recall OF Austin Meadows (@austin_meadows) before tomorrow's game. pic.twitter.com/YfVCvggtUk
— Pirates (@Pirates) May 18, 2018
There is a lot to like in Meadows as he has some pop in his bat and has a hit tool to be excited about. Including his .294/.336/.397 start in Triple-A during the 2018 season, Meadows has posted a .292/.357/.454 line in 420 games in the minor leagues.
While Starling Marte and Corey Dickerson have been producing at a high level in the Pirates outfield, Marte could miss some time on a DL stint due to an oblique injury that caused him to be pulled from a game yesterday.
One assumes that the Pirates are hopeful that while Meadows won’t replicate Marte’s defensive value, that their offense won’t miss a beat with Austin in the lineup.