Tigers’ Parker Meadows to IL with concussion, broken arm following outfield collision

Parker Meadows collided with Riley Greene in the outfield during the Tigers' game against the Twins on Thursday. Bruce Kluckhohn / Imagn Images

DETROIT — The Detroit Tigers’ roster is in flux after the team placed outfielder Parker Meadows on the 10-day injured list Friday.

Meadows was diagnosed with a concussion and a broken radius bone in his left forearm after a nasty collision with outfielder Riley Greene in Thursday’s game against the Twins. Meadows also received five stitches for a cut inside his cheek.

“(The injury) looked massive when we got out there,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said Friday. “You always hope for the best, and unfortunately it’s not one thing or two things. It’s three things he has to deal with. One will heal quickly with the stitches. But this game is not always fair.”

The Tigers called up outfielder Wenceel Pérez in Meadows’ place. Pérez, a switch hitter, hit .244 with 13 home runs for the Tigers last season but was left off the Opening Day roster after he hit only .190 in spring training.

In 10 games with Triple-A Toledo, Pérez hit two home runs and posted an .807 OPS.

The injury is another unfortunate break for Meadows, who played only 58 games last season after IL stints with a nerve issue in his right arm and a quad strain. Meadows was hitting .250 through the team’s first 12 games.

“He had gotten off to a pretty decent start,” Hinch said. “He really was a stable part of our everyday (lineup), especially against right-handed pitching. For him to suffer another set of injuries on a play is so unfortunate for him. I feel for him.”

How the Tigers will fill Meadows’ place in center field remains to be seen. Pérez and Matt Vierling are options to get playing time in center. Javier Báez, however, played 53 games in center field last season and was set to play there Friday night against the Marlins. If Báez sees more time in center, Kevin McGonigle would likely get more reps at shortstop, perhaps opening more time for Colt Keith or Zach McKinstry in the infield. McKinstry could also be an option at shortstop, and Hinch said McKinstry will begin taking practice reps in center field, as well, as a precaution for in-game moves.

Hinch said outfield prospect Max Clark — who is hitting .405 so far in Triple A — was not under consideration to get called up.

“We’ve been very consistent with him needing time to continue the development,” Hinch said of Clark. “He’s taken everything we have asked him to do and started to apply it in Triple A and has gotten off to a good start himself. … We obviously expect him to factor in more and more as these things continue to develop and he continues to develop himself. But Wenceel was the clear option.”

Meadows spent Thursday night in Minneapolis after undergoing evaluation at a local hospital. He has been cleared to travel and is expected to return to Detroit, where he will have further appointments to determine the extent of his arm injury.

“We’ll see what the timeline is based on the next evaluation,” Hinch said. “I would hope that we get him back.”

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Cody Stavenhagen is a senior writer covering the Detroit Tigers and Major League Baseball for The Athletic. Previously, he covered Michigan football at The Athletic and Oklahoma football and basketball for the Tulsa World, where he was named APSE Beat Writer of the Year for his circulation group in 2016. He is a native of Amarillo, Texas. Follow Cody on Twitter @CodyStavenhagen