KANSAS CITY -- Gage Workman waited seemingly forever for the Tigers to call his name among their lengthy list of injury replacements. Finally given his shot, he didn’t need long to live up to his middle name: Tater.
In his first at-bat as a Tiger, Workman made his first swing a big one, slugging a go-ahead, pinch-hit two-run home run in the sixth inning to help Detroit salvage a game out of their series at Kauffman Stadium with a 6-3 victory over the Royals on Sunday night.
Workman, the Tigers’ fourth-round pick from the same 2020 Draft that produced former Arizona State teammate Spencer Torkelson, Dillon Dingler and Colt Keith, had a more scenic journey to Detroit. He produced three consecutive double-digit homer seasons in the Minors but battled a high strikeout rate. The Cubs took a shot on him in the Rule 5 Draft before the 2025 season, but he earned just 16 at-bats between the Cubs and White Sox before being returned to the Tigers’ system. He wasn’t even a non-roster invite to big league camp in Spring Training, but a hot start at Triple-A Toledo put him on Detroit’s radar amid a rash of injuries.
The Tigers summoned Workman to Kansas City on Sunday after Kerry Carpenter sprained his shoulder crashing into the right-field sidewall on Bobby Witt Jr.’s inside-the-park home run Saturday night. Workman was one of three left-handed bats on manager A.J. Hinch’s bench against Royals lefty starter Noah Cameron.
Once Royals manager Matt Quatraro turned to his bullpen for the third trip through the order, Hinch unleashed all his lefty bats. Zach McKinstry batted for Hao-Yu Lee after Torkelson’s leadoff single in the sixth and flew out to left. Workman batted for shortstop Zack Short and turned on a Nick Mears slider down and in, sending a drive down the right-field line and just inside the foul pole.
Workman’s middle name is a tribute to his grandfather, whose nickname was Tater, but it fit him perfectly here. The drive provided a badly needed jolt to a team that was admittedly weathering the storm of injuries that have depleted the roster and led to several big league opportunities for former Toledo Mud Hens.
The restored lead provided new life in the Tigers’ latest bullpen game, this one in place of suspended starter Framber Valdez. Enmanuel De Jesus, the fourth of six Tigers pitchers on the night, tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings to earn his second MLB win.