tigers outfielder austin meadows I take to Twitter this afternoon to announce that he has been off the pitch attending to a mental health problem. Manager AJ Hinch told reporters (including Evan Woodbery of MLive.com) that Meadows will not return to the field this year.
“What I have told very few people is that I have been… struggling with my mental health in a way that has extended my time away from the game that I love so much.”, Meadows wrote in his statement. “I have been dealing with this privately with a great team of professionals, but I need to continue to work hard off the field to feel mentally healthy.
While I have returned to the clubhouse in recent weeks and plan to stay with the club until the end of the season, I am not ready to return to the field just yet. I am very grateful to my family, my teammates and the Tigers organization for supporting me in this. I can’t do this alone, and I hope that by sharing my experience I can touch at least one person who might be going through their own problems and encourage them to seek help from someone..”
Meadows has played in 36 MLB games this year, the first in Detroit after a trade from the Rays in early April. He spent some time on the disabled list in mid-May battling vertigo-like symptoms. He returned in June but quickly returned to the IL due to COVID-19. While trying to recover from that illness, Meadows strained both of his Achilles tendons. He was sent on a rehab assignment on August 10, but dropped out a few days later, and the team did not release details about his release at that time.
Hinch praised Meadows for making the news of their battle public, saying it was the outfielder’s call. “Austin has chosen the path of being proactive and helping others while helping himself.”, said the manager (via Cody Stavenhagen of Atletico), adding his hope that today’s announcement will help others deal with similar struggles. MLBTR sends our best wishes to the Meadows.
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