Young Outfielder Primed to Have Breakout Season for Detroit Tigers
After a great 2024 campaign, it has been a fairly quiet offseason for the Detroit Tigers so far.
The Tigers were able to shock the league in 2024 with one of the best second halves of a season in quite some time. Detroit was able to go on an impressive run down the stretch to make the postseason, which snapped a lengthy drought.
In the postseason, the Tigers were able to win their series in the Wild Card Round against the Houston Astros, proving that the franchise can compete in the American League.
While the success of 2024 was encouraging, this is by no means a perfect team in Detroit. Coming into the offseason, the Tigers had several areas that they could look to upgrade.
So far, it has been fairly quiet with just a couple of one-year deals for Gleyber Torres and Alex Cobb highlighting their moves in free agency.
Since Detroit hasn’t made any major moves this offseason, in order to replicate what they were able to accomplish last season, they will need some of their young players to take a step forward.
Recently, Jason Beck of MLB.com spoke about which player on the Tigers could have a breakout season in 2025. He chose outfielder Austin Meadows to put together a stellar campaign.
“While Meadows has dazzled in stretches, including a strong postseason at the plate and in the field, the 25-year-old has yet to enjoy a full season in the Majors. He hit .296/.340/.500 with six home runs and 23 RBIs in August and September and looked like a more confident hitter than the one who was optioned to Triple-A Toledo in May.”
The 25-year-old is still fairly inexperienced in the majors, as he has played less than a full season of games in the league over the last two years. However, he showed in 2024, that there is some potential there at the plate to pair with his strong defensive abilities.
Last season, the 25-year-old batted .244, while hitting nine home runs, and drove in 28 RBIs in 82 games. In the postseason, he was one of the best hitters for Detroit, as he batted .269 and stole three bases.
The most important thing for Meadows to have a breakout season will be to play an entire season in the big leagues. He hasn’t come close to doing that just yet, but the opportunity should be there for him in 2025.
Since the Tigers haven’t made any major additions to improve their lineup, they will be relying on players like Meadows to take a step forward. The potential is certainly there for the young slugger, but he will have to make the most of the opportunity.
