![]() In the Dominican, Wingenter showed glimpses of high-end stuff. “The fear of the unknown,” Wingenter said. But sometimes you hear stories like this - of a player who had one too many injuries at the wrong time and never got another chance. He was eager to show he was healthy and that there was still something left in the tank. This offseason, Wingenter went to the Dominican Winter League. “You blink and it’s been another 18 months,” he said. He spent close to a full season rehabbing on his own. Then, as spring neared its end, the back issue flared up again. Again he felt he was on the path back to himself. Last spring he got a chance with the Reds. “They’re just core exercises, and you do thousands and thousands of them,” he said. The injury required surgery, so he again rehabbed all offseason, doing workouts with funky names: deadbugs, birddogs and planks. Then, just as his rehab assignment was winding down, he felt a pain in his back. He even had hopes that he could prove himself worthy of a spot on the Padres’ playoff roster. He got sent on a minor-league rehab assignment. By the end of the year, he was finally able to start throwing. Wingenter missed the shortened 2020 season and was still rehabbing throughout most of 2021. The verdict this time was dreaded: He needed Tommy John surgery. Wingenter reconvened with the Padres for summer workouts. He came back the following spring feeling optimistic, ready to build on his success. Metaphorically, he limped to the finish line that season. He was establishing himself as a forceful reliever, posting a 2.41 ERA through his first 20 appearances. The story goes like this: Wingenter had a 5.65 ERA for the Padres in 2019. “We won’t miss that one either,” Kenny said. Chances are he starts this year in Toledo.īut especially if he keeps hitting like this, a call-up sometime this year isn’t out of the question. 270 with 20 home runs in the minors last season, topping out at Double-A Erie. Parker, a second-round pick in 2018, got rid of a hitch in his swing and reestablished himself as a real player to watch in 2022. They’re counting on him for a return to form. The Tigers acquired Austin from the Rays via trade last year before well-documented injuries and mental health struggles led to him missing most of the season. She slept through most of her first baseball game.īoth brothers are crucial to the Tigers organization in different ways this season. They took pictures and took turns holding Austin’s infant daughter, Adelynne. “Mine was fair, just so you know.”Īfter Saturday’s spring opener, the whole Meadows family gathered outside the Tigers’ clubhouse. “He had to one-up me,” Austin joked after the game. “From the dugout angle, his definitely looked fair,” Parker said. The eldest Meadows brother unloaded on a pitch of his own, sending it soaring high down the right-field line. Staci started tearing up.Īnd not long after Parker’s blast to right field, Austin came up for his second at-bat of the day. Earlier, they had watched their two sons warm up on the same field, wearing the same big-league jersey. It’s already been a spring full of moments like that. In the stands, mom and dad couldn’t believe it. “I stepped on home and I look up and I saw (Austin) running at me,” Parker said. The ball had an exit velocity of 110 mph. With a swing he revamped last offseason en route to a breakthrough year in the minors, Meadows unloaded on the ball, sending it screaming on a line over the right-field wall. He got a 91 mph fastball in his first at-bat, the first pitch he’d seen this spring. Saturday, Parker was the brother doing the heavy lifting. “Sure enough when we got down here today thinking we were surprising them, (Parker) goes, ‘I knew you were coming,'” Staci said. She was sharing her location with the kids on her phone. “Mom texted me last night, like, ‘Oh I wish we could be there tomorrow,'” Parker said.Īfter stopping for dinner on the drive, Staci realized she’d made a crucial mistake. They only told Austin’s wife, Alexis, they were making the trip. “Whatever we have to do, we’re getting there.” “We were like, OK, I guess we’re going to have to sleep in the truck,” Staci said. So they left in the late afternoon and drove to Florida. Plans changed when they got official word both their kids would be in Saturday’s lineup. Life beckoned, so the parents headed back up to Georgia before the spring opener. There, Staci and Kenny shagged balls as their two sons worked out at a local field. The whole family stayed at Austin’s place in Apollo Beach. Staci and Kenny were down in Florida last week. “I’m still kind of just following (Austin) around like a puppy dog,” Parker said Friday.
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