Pittsburgh Pirates' Meadows, Indians' Frazier thriving in AFL

Camelback Ranch, where the Glendale Desert Dogs of the Arizona Fall League call home, served as grounds for a baseball reunion yesterday. Scottsdale Scorpions left fielder Clint Frazier and Desert Dogs right fielder Austin Meadows have a lot of history together, and it’s fun watching them grow up together.

They were friends growing up in Georgia and were the subject of a Sports Illustrated piece by Albert Chen detailing the rise of the Peach State as a baseball hotbed. They were drafted within five picks of each other in 2013—Frazier was drafted fifth overall by the Indians while Meadows was drafted ninth by the Pirates—and they have been navigating the minor leagues at almost the same pace ever since. The Pirates have been slightly more aggressive with Meadows, as he played in a whopping six games at Double-A in 2015, and Meadows has fewer plate appearances due to an injury in 2014, but it’s as if their destinies are intertwined.

Meadows is coming off his third standout season in a row, finishing third in the Florida State League (High-A) with a .307 batting average. He was also fifth in on base percentage (.357), seventh in slugging (.407) and fifth in the league in wRC+ (134) and weighted on base average (.362). Frazier was even more dominant in the Carolina League—also High-A—by finishing tied for second in wRC+ (147) and wOBA (.389) and fourth in average, OBP and slugging with a .285/.377/.465 line.

Yesterday, Frazier went 0-for-5 and Meadows went 1-for-4 in Scottsdale’s 7-5 win. Frazier is faring better overall in the AFL with a .300/.372/.471 line with three home runs, and though Meadows is hitting an unimpressive .169/.194/.308, he did stand out in the Fall Stars Game Saturday with a home run.

The profuse amount of talent from the 2013 draft can be seen on all six rosters of the AFL. In addition to Meadows and Frazier, future Mets first baseman Dominic Smith, Reds outfielder Phil Ervin, Giants shortstop Christian Arroyo, Pirates catcher Reese McGuire and Mariners third baseman D.J. Peterson all were taken in the first round. Phillies shortstop prospect J.P. Crawford was playing in the league before he hurt his thumb. (AFL alums Kris Bryant and Mark Appel were also drafted in 2013.)

But no two players are more connected than Meadows and Frazier. Based on the way they’ve performed thus far as professionals, the Indians and Pirates absolutely got these picks right. Here are their career numbers through the 2015 season:

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Frazier is developing more of a power hitting profile while Meadows is showing a consistency and plate discipline beyond his years.

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The way Meadows has been hitting, he may move through the upper minors quickly. Unfortunately for him, the Pirates already have the best young outfield in the majors, and it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon: Perennial MVP candidate Andrew McCutchen is under contract through 2017 with a club option for 2018 and Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco won’t come up for free agency until 2019 and 2020, respectively. (The Pirates also have club options for Marte for ’20 and ’21.)

Frazier has a much less clustered road to the majors. Yes, the Indians also have Bradley Zimmer—who was Frazier’s teammate for much of 2015—Tyler Naquin and James Ramsey in their minor league system, but Michael Brantley is the only certainty in the Indians’ outfield. (Brantley is signed through 2017 with a club option for 2018.) Zimmer and Frazier are the two best prospects in the Indians’ system, so Naquin and Ramsey will more likely be stopgaps until the two more talented prospects are ready to take over.

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Keep watching Frazier and Meadows in the years to come. They may end up playing each other in an All Star Game someday.

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