The Tigers are placing Austin Meadows on the 10-day injured list with anxiety, Detroit announced in a Saturday afternoon press release.
“The Tigers fully support Austin’s decision to step away from the team and prioritize his mental health,” Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said in the release. “As an organization, we have taken many steps to provide and destigmatize mental health resources, and we will do more to help our players tackle the mental and physical challenges they face on a daily basis.
“We commend Austin for confronting these challenges head-on and ask our fans to join us in supporting him through every step of his journey back to the field.”
Meadows has played in six games in the young 2023 season, slashing .238/.238/.286 with two RBIs.
After the Rays traded him to Detroit mere days before the start of the 2022 season, Meadows played in just 36 games, battling vertigo, COVID-19, Achilles tendinitis and mental health issues at various points.
When healthy, Meadows has been a consistent performer, garnering down-ballot MVP votes with Tampa Bay in 2019 and 2021. He made his first and only All-Star team during the ‘19 season, when he slashed .291/.364/.558 with 33 home runs and 89 RBIs.
