It has been a tricky calendar year for Austin Meadows in his 1st year with the Detroit Tigers. And now it truly is in excess of.
The previous All-Star outfielder introduced Friday that he will not return to the discipline this time due to mental wellbeing troubles. He explained he however strategies to keep on being with the team, he just will not likely participate in.
Meadows’ whole assertion:
This period has been an unfortunate wrestle with a series of accidents and ailment, from working with vertigo early on, then COVID, to bilateral tendinitis in my Achilles, and then getting to go by the rehab process every time.
What I have advised extremely couple of folks is that I also have been having difficulties with my mental wellness in a way that has prolonged my time away from the video game that I adore so much. I have been dealing with this privately with a terrific staff of specialists, but I will need to carry on to place in the hard do the job off the industry toward sensation mentally healthful.
When I’ve been back again in the clubhouse the previous handful of weeks, and strategy to stay with the club as a result of the conclude of period, I am still not ready to return to the area. I am so grateful for my household, my teammates, and the Tigers group for supporting me via this. I won’t be able to do this on your own, and I hope in sharing my encounter I can contact at the very least a single person who could possibly be going by means of their personal struggles and encourage them to attain out to somebody for assist.
As Meadows mentions, he has dealt with a litany of problems this period, initially hitting the hurt listing with vertigo on May possibly 16, then working with COVID-19 in June and Achilles tendinitis in each ankles a number of months afterwards. He has not performed in a sport due to the fact June 15.
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch not only pledged the team would assist Meadows in his recovery, but counseled him for embracing the difficulty:
“I just cannot say adequate how happy I am of him,” Hinch claimed. “Maybe there’s one kid out there, perhaps there’s a teammate out there, probably an ex-teammate, perhaps anyone close to the league that is battling on their have and curious whether or not they really should connect with for assistance or even admit that they have challenges that they need to work as a result of.
“Austin has decided on the path to be proactive and assist other people though encouraging himself and acquiring to the next step of his recovery.”
Meadows joined Detroit only a couple days right before opening day in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays that despatched back again infield prospect Austin Paredes and a comp B draft decide.
In 36 online games with the Tigers, Meadows strike .250/.347/.328 with no house operates and 11 RBI. That speed signifies a move back from Meadows’ creation with the Rays, with whom he manufactured an All-Star Sport in 2019 and Planet Sequence in 2020.
Of class, it can be been a tough yr for the Tigers, who tried using to acquire a step ahead in their rebuild with the Meadows trade and totally free agents like Javier Baez and Eduardo Rodriguez, but now sit in last position in the AL Central at 50-81.
