DETROIT -- The Tigers on Friday placed outfielder Parker Meadows on the 10-day injured list following his harrowing outfield collision with teammate Riley Greene on Thursday afternoon at Target Field.
Meadows suffered a concussion as well as a broken radius bone in his left forearm. He also received five stitches for a laceration on the right side of his mouth. He was traveling back from Minneapolis on Friday.
Meadows will be in concussion protocol, meaning he must clear concussion tests by a team physician following a return-to-play program. However, he will also need additional testing to determine the extent of the fracture and whether it will require surgery to repair.
”Tough blow for him, tough blow for us,” manager A.J. Hinch said Friday, ”and significant injuries. We don’t know if anything more is going to be required, surgery or anything like that. I think he needs multiple appointments to figure out what’s next for him, and he’s got a long road to recovery.”
To fill Meadows’ spot, the Tigers recalled outfielder Wenceel Pérez from Triple-A Toledo. Pérez was one of the final roster cuts at the end of Spring Training, having hit .190 with 13 strikeouts in Grapefruit League play. The Tigers optioned him to Toledo with instructions to work on his plate discipline, and he answered, batting .250 (11-for-44) with two homers, three doubles, four RBIs, seven walks, seven strikeouts and nine runs.
“I should’ve told him two weeks earlier,” Hinch said earlier this week. “He’s going to help us at some point this season.”
That point is now. Pérez helped fill the void in center field last season while Meadows was sidelined for the first two months with a nerve issue in his right arm. He rated at minus-1 Outs Above Average over 31 games in center, but his switch-hitting bat and speed provided much-needed components to Detroit’s outfield.
“He is logically and clearly the next-best option for us to come up and join the roster,” said Hinch, who added that No. 2 prospect Max Clark was not a consideration for the role.
Pérez won’t have to handle center field by himself, or even handle primary duties. Matt Vierling already has five appearances in center this season, including two starts, and has shown he can handle the position. Javier Báez, who moved from shortstop in center after Meadows’ exit Thursday, will also reprise the dual role that helped earn him an All-Star selection last season. That frees up rookie Kevin McGonigle and All-Star Zach McKinstry to get more starts at short.
The amount of juggling that the Tigers will do signifies how big of a role Meadows played from his post in center field and his left-handed bat in the lineup. Meadows was batting .250/.308/.333 this season with a double, triple and two RBIs, good for a 94 OPS+. He had swiped three bases in as many tries, one of many facets of his game in which his speed is premium.
The season had been a significant bounceback from what had been a frustrating 2025 campaign that never really got rolling after a nerve issue that took time to figure out and then solve. Now Meadows faces another lengthy rehab.
“Obviously we know his impact on defense,” Hinch said. “He had gotten off to a pretty decent start. He really is a stable part of our everyday [lineup], especially against right-handed pitching. So for him to suffer another set of injuries on a play that’s so unfortunate for him, I feel for him. It looked massive when we got out there. You always hope for the best, and unfortunately it’s not one thing or two things, it was three things that he has to deal with. One will heal quickly with the stitches. But this game’s not always fair.”
Asked if it could be a season-ending injury, Hinch said, “I would hope that we get him back.”