Tigers Talk: For Parker and Austin Meadows, a spring opener to remember

LAKELAND, Fla. — Staci and Kenny Meadows left their home in Loganville, Ga., around 4 p.m. on Friday. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision. But even if they were a bit drained the next day, they wouldn’t change it for anything.

Saturday, their two sons — Austin and Parker Meadows — played in a big-league spring training game together, for the first time. Only a few days earlier, the Meadows brothers arrived to camp together. Younger brother Parker was lugging Austin’s gear to the clubhouse.

“I’m still kind of just following (Austin) around like a puppy dog,” Parker said Friday.

Staci and Kenny were down in Florida last week. The whole family stayed at Austin’s place in Apollo Beach. There, Staci and Kenny shagged balls as their two sons worked out at a local field. “I’m still sore,” Kenny said Saturday.

Life beckoned, so the parents headed back up to Georgia before the spring opener. Plans changed when they got official word both their kids would be in Saturday’s lineup.

So they left in the late afternoon and drove to Florida. About 7 1/2 hours. Hotels all the way down were booked.

“We were like, OK, I guess we’re going to have to sleep in the truck,” Staci said. “Whatever we have to do, we’re getting there.”

They arrived in Lakeland around 1 a.m. and finally found a Days Inn. They were trying to pull off a surprise. They only told Austin’s wife, Alexis, they were making the trip.

“Mom texted me last night, like, ‘Oh I wish we could be there tomorrow,'” Parker said.

After stopping for dinner on the drive, Staci realized she’d made a crucial mistake. She was sharing her location with the kids on her phone.

“Sure enough when we got down here today thinking we were surprising them, (Parker) goes, ‘I knew you were coming,'” Staci said.

Saturday, Parker was the brother doing the heavy lifting. He got a 91 mph fastball in his first at-bat, the first pitch he’d seen this spring. With a swing he revamped last offseason en route to a breakthrough year in the minors, Meadows unloaded on the ball, sending it screaming on a line over the right-field wall. The ball had an exit velocity of 110 mph.

“I stepped on home and I look up and I saw (Austin) running at me,” Parker said. “I thought he was gonna tackle me.”

Hug me, brotha!
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) February 25, 2023

In the stands, mom and dad couldn’t believe it. It’s already been a spring full of moments like that. Earlier, they had watched their two sons warm up on the same field, wearing the same big-league jersey. Staci started tearing up.

And not long after Parker’s blast to right field, Austin came up for his second at-bat of the day. The eldest Meadows brother unloaded on a pitch of his own, sending it soaring high down the right-field line. For a moment, it looked gone.

The final verdict: Just foul.

“From the dugout angle, his definitely looked fair,” Parker said.

“He had to one-up me,” Austin joked after the game. “Mine was fair, just so you know.”

After Saturday’s spring opener, the whole Meadows family gathered outside the Tigers’ clubhouse. They took pictures and took turns holding Austin’s infant daughter, Adelynne. She slept through most of her first baseball game.

Both brothers are crucial to the Tigers organization in different ways this season. The Tigers acquired Austin from the Rays via trade last year before well-documented injuries and mental health struggles led to him missing most of the season. They’re counting on him for a return to form.

Parker, a second-round pick in 2018, got rid of a hitch in his swing and reestablished himself as a real player to watch in 2022. He hit .270 with 20 home runs in the minors last season, topping out at Double-A Erie. Chances are he starts this year in Toledo.

But especially if he keeps hitting like this, a call-up sometime this year isn’t out of the question.

“We won’t miss that one either,” Kenny said. “No matter what, we’ll be there.”

Trey Wingenter made two spring training appearances for the Reds in 2022. (Mark J. Rebilas / USA Today)

Meet Trey Wingenter, one of the best stories in camp

Trey Wingenter was out on a backfield mound Friday, grunting as he threw powerful fastballs, watching as hitters swung over a slick slider.

His live session was not perfect. Honing the command is a work in progress. But no doubt it felt good for Wingenter, a pitcher who has not thrown in a major-league game since 2019. He’s one of the best stories in camp.

“Quite a ride, to say the least,” he said.

The story goes like this: Wingenter had a 5.65 ERA for the Padres in 2019. He was establishing himself as a forceful reliever, posting a 2.41 ERA through his first 20 appearances. Then his shoulder got sore. Metaphorically, he limped to the finish line that season. He came back the following spring feeling optimistic, ready to build on his success. Then COVID shut down camp. Wingenter reconvened with the Padres for summer workouts. Then his elbow started barking. The verdict this time was dreaded: He needed Tommy John surgery.

Wingenter missed the shortened 2020 season and was still rehabbing throughout most of 2021. By the end of the year, he was finally able to start throwing. He got sent on a minor-league rehab assignment. Things were going well. He even had hopes that he could prove himself worthy of a spot on the Padres’ playoff roster. Then, just as his rehab assignment was winding down, he felt a pain in his back. A herniated disc. The injury required surgery, so he again rehabbed all offseason, doing workouts with funky names: deadbugs, birddogs and planks.

“They’re just core exercises, and you do thousands and thousands of them,” he said.

Last spring he got a chance with the Reds. Again he felt he was on the path back to himself. Then, as spring neared its end, the back issue flared up again.

“Out of nowhere,” Wingenter said.

His back needed more work. He spent close to a full season rehabbing on his own. Got to feeling good again.

“You blink and it’s been another 18 months,” he said.

This offseason, Wingenter went to the Dominican Winter League. He was eager to show he was healthy and that there was still something left in the tank. But sometimes you hear stories like this — of a player who had one too many injuries at the wrong time and never got another chance.

“The fear of the unknown,” Wingenter said.

In the Dominican, Wingenter showed glimpses of high-end stuff. He allowed only one run and struck out six batters in 5 1/3 innings. He was still sorting out his mechanics, still regaining his confidence. But on days he might have doubted himself, he thought of his past success, of how hard he had worked just to get one more shot.

“I’d say my motivation was really seeing a little bit of success early in my career, knowing I can dominate at the highest level, and then I really just took it one day at a time,” Wingenter said. “Stayed the course. I knew if I could get right again I could be as good as anybody.”

Toward the end of winter ball, Wingenter could feel his game starting to click into place. More importantly, his mind was becoming more clear. Less fear of another injury.

“You start to get that confidence again where you can really focus on competing instead of focusing on guarding something or what hurts that day,” Wingenter said.

Now he is in Tigers camp. Wingenter is a non-roster invite on a minor-league deal. But the Tigers have openings in the bullpen. And so far, Wingenter looks like a real candidate for a job. His stuff sizzled in his first live session. His command was not quite as good the second time around, but he finished strong. The last five pitches popped the mitt. His breaking ball looked dirty.

“First off, his stuff is nasty,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “He’s had a hard time staying on the field the last couple of years for various reasons. But he’s pretty extreme when he gets ahead.”

From here, command will be the key to everything. Even in 2019, Wingenter could have lapses. He walked 4.9 batters per nine innings. But when he got ahead in counts, he was close to untouchable. After getting up 0-1, Wingenter has struck out 73 of 165 batters in his MLB career. That’s a K-rate of 44.2 percent.

Wingenter will have to continue this kind of showing in spring training games. But so far, he looks like a pitcher with a real chance.

“I always had a feeling I would get through it,” Wingenter said. “I’m still 28, in great shape, the arm feels great again. Hopefully, it’ll all be worth it soon.”

More observations

Colt Keith: The Tigers’ top-rated hitting prospect isn’t doing anything to slow the hype growing around him. Friday in batting practice, Keith homered off a Matt Manning curveball and also laced a hard-hit line drive off a Manning slider. He’s likely to start this season in Double A. His hitting shines not only for his power but also his approach — he laid off multiple tough Manning pitches before the homer.

The biggest question is likely whether Keith can improve enough defensively to stick at third base.

“He can really hit,” Hinch said. “We had our player meeting with him this morning and emphasized that his approach currently works. So now it’s experience and facing better pitchers as he goes across the minor leagues and continues to chip away at whatever defensive positions he can play. We know the one place he can be comfortable in his first big-league camp. It’s gonna be the batter’s box.”

Spencer Turnbull: Turnbull looked quite sharp in his first live session since Tommy John surgery. He struggled a bit with the pitch clock, but his fastball was sitting right where it should be in the mid-90s. Command of the secondary stuff wasn’t great, but Turnbull still displayed his whole arsenal and did throw a few solid breaking balls, too.

“I was a little nervous,” he said. “Kind of felt like a baby deer out there.”

Said Hinch: “I think he was really happy regardless of the stuff, and the stuff was really good.”

Elvis Alvarado: He’s one of the less-talked-about prospects in the system. That might be changing soon. He has a fastball that can touch triple digits and reached Double A after dominating the lower rungs of the minors last year. Friday in a live session, his fastball sizzled, and he had some funky arm action out of the windup that can’t be easy on hitters.

Matt Manning: We already know Manning has an upper-tier fastball. Tying the secondary stuff together once and for all is going to be the key this year. So far in spring, it hasn’t been great. Manning struggled to spot a few breaking balls. Keith hit a looping curveball for a home run.

Andy Ibáñez: The third baseman went 1-for-2 Saturday and has been showing off his contact skills on the backfields. He has also looked plenty comfortable at third base. The Tigers like his ability to hit lefties, and he might have an early edge in the Tigers’ infield competition.

Mason Englert: The Tigers’ Rule 5 pick was one of the stars of Saturday’s spring opener. Englert struck out four batters and generated seven swings and misses in his two innings of work. He threw only 20 pitches, 17 of them for strikes. His slider and plus changeup looked good in his live sessions, and it transferred over to the game.

“He wants to impress this group, and if he wants a chance to make this team, he’s got to throw strikes,” Hinch said. “Well, that’s a display of throwing strikes.”

(Top photo of the Meadows brothers, Austin (left) and Parker (right), with family members before Saturday’s game: Mike Watters / USA Today)