OF Austin Meadows, Pittsburgh
34 games, .314/.346/.525, 5 HRs
Meadows immediately took off at the plate following his call-up, which coincidentally came just two days before Juan Soto got his first crack at the majors. Meadows recorded 7 multi-hit performances in his first 10 starts, including three homers and two doubles in a four-game span against San Diego and Cincinnati.
Since that initial tear, though, Meadows has struggled to consistently reach base, and has posted only a .657 OPS in his last 23 games. Patience is the main culprit for his offensive struggles; his 4.7 percent walk rate ranks 287th out of 319 players with at least 120 plate appearances.
Meadows showed decent plate discipline in the minors, so this is likely just an adjustment period, but it certainly puts him a step behind Soto who has seemingly mastered the major league strike zone already.
Meadows figures to be a much better defender than Soto in time, but right now they are equally inept in the outfield. The young Buc has quickly turned in minus-5 defensive runs saved in 34 games.
While Juan Soto maintained his elite level at the plate after his blazing hot start, Meadows has tapered off. He also isn’t consistent enough in the other areas of the game to truly compete for the Rookie of the Year award – unless he gets red hot with the bat again.