Tigers center fielder Parker Meadows won’t be ready by Opening Day, manager A.J. Hinch tells Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. Meadows has been having issues with the musculocutaneous nerve in his upper right arm, which the club can’t seem to activate at the moment.
It seems to be a frustrating situation with little clarity. Hinch said earlier this week that they are trying to “wake it up,” referring to the nerve in Meadows’ arm. In the meantime, Meadows can do some things but can’t throw. He can take some swings, but with just one hand. Once his nerve is awoken, he’ll need to take some at-bats and get back into game shape.
With Matt Vierling set to start the season on the injured list due to a rotator cuff strain, the Tigers will be down two outfielders to start the year. Wenceel Pérez would be a logical fill-in with Meadows on the shelf but he has his own issue. Pérez has been dealing with some back tightness lately. The club announced today, per Evan Woodbery of MLive Media Group, that Pérez received a cortisone injection to address his lingering discomfort. The club still believes Pérez will be ready by Opening Day, per Chris McCosky of Detroit News, but it’s clearly not ideal for so many injuries to be occurring simultaneously.
If Pérez is able to take over in center, he will be flanked by Riley Greene on one side. Kerry Carpenter could perhaps be in the other corner. Carpenter once projected as the regular designated hitter but him taking the outfield more regularly could perhaps open more playing time for Spencer Torkelson, who is having a great spring. The Tigers signed Gleyber Torres to man second base and then bumped Colt Keith to first, squeezing out Tork. But he’s hit four homers in 12 games and could perhaps find himself taking some of those DH at-bats.
Since Pérez is sort of a touch-and-go situation, the club will have to think about backup plans for center field. Greene could perhaps be an option there, with someone like Justyn-Henry Malloy stepping into a corner. They also have utility guys Zach McKinstry and Andy Ibáñez on the roster.
There’s also one other creative solution that is getting some consideration. Hinch tells Jason Beck of MLB.com that he is thinking about getting Javier Báez some action in center. “I’m flirting with the idea of putting Javy out there and getting him a few reps,” Hinch said, “just in case something happens during the season where we end up with that need.”
Báez…
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