It didn't look good for Parker Meadows. His outfield collision with Riley Greene in the Tigers' loss to the Twins on Thursday left him sprawled on his back, hardly able to move, blood running down his face. Meadows was carted off the field and taken by ambulance to a hospital in Minneapolis, where he stayed overnight.
On Friday, A.J. Hinch shared the grim update on the Tigers' center fielder: Meadows has a concussion, a fractured left forearm and five stitches across his face for a gash on the side of his mouth.
Meadows, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list, was cleared to travel back from Minneapolis on Friday.
Tigers finally retired Josh Bell, but Riley Greene and Parker Meadows had a nasty collision running down his fly ball. Cart is on the field for Meadows along with medical personnel. pic.twitter.com/pUBcWw9w5A
— Jason Beck (@beckjason) April 9, 2026
It's unfortunate news for the 26-year-old Meadows, who was trying to re-establish himself as Detroit's starting center fielder after missing most of last season due to arm and quad injuries. He was the Tigers' best position player during their charge to the playoffs in 2024, but injuries have been a theme of his young career.
With Meadows on the shelf, the Tigers called up Wenceel Perez from Triple-A Toledo. Perez is a switch-hitter and versatile outfielder who's been a useful piece the last two seasons for A.J. Hinch. The Tigers will also deploy Javy Baez and Matt Vierling in center; Baez started there for Friday night's game against the Marlins.
As for top outfield prospect Max Clark, who's off to a hot start in Triple-A Toledo, Hinch told reporters that the 21-year-old "wasn't in consideration to come up. We've been very consistent with him needing time to continue the development."
Clark may help the Tigers later this season, but the time isn't now.
"He's taken everything that we have asked him to do and started to apply it in Triple-A and has gotten off to a good start himself, whether that's on the bases, on defense or certainly the bat," Hinch said, via the Free Press. "He has done a really good job getting himself used to Triple-A. We obviously expect him to factor in more and more as he continues to develop, but Wenceel was logically and clearly the best option for us to come up and join the roster."
