The Tigers announced that outfielder Wenceel Perez has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left oblique strain. Outfielder Akil Baddoo was called up from Triple-A to fill Perez’s spot on the active roster.
An IL stint seemed likely for Perez after he left last night’s game early due to soreness in his left abdominal area. The severity of the oblique strain isn’t yet known, but anything beyond a Grade 1 strain might well put the rest of Perez’s rookie season in jeopardy.
Perez made his Major League debut back on April 8, and he has quickly become a regular in Detroit’s lineup. Perez has +3 Outs Above Average, and +2 Defensive Runs Saved for his 574 innings as a right fielder, though the UZR/150 metric (-0.3) is less impressed. Starting the year in something of a right field timeshare with Kerry Carpenter and Mark Canha, Perez had more or less moved into the everyday role in the wake of Carpenter’s extended stint on the IL, and Canha’s increased usage as a first baseman and DH before the Tigers traded him to the Giants. Perez has also gotten a good chunk of playing time in center field, even his glovework up the middle hasn’t been great.
At the plate, Perez has hit .242/.298/.386 over 378 plate appearances, which translates to a 92 wRC+ in his first exposure to MLB pitching. The switch-hitter has roughly equal splits from both sides of the plate, and he hasn’t made much hard contact.
Despite the uninspiring numbers, Perez has been deployed as the Tigers’ leadoff hitter for a good portion of the season, usually taking the top spot when Matt Vierling or Riley Greene hasn’t been the team’s first batter. Baddoo figures to step into Perez’s outfield role and might get some leadoff at-bats himself down the stretch as the 55-62 Tigers will be prioritizing younger talent down the stretch.
Can we be done with Baddoo
Baddoo debuted to a really nice start in 2021, he has cratered hard and he’s only 25 years old…
Hopefully. He’ll be arbitration eligible after this season so he’s likely gone.
Unfortunately, an oblique strain means Perez is likely done for the year.
I’m just waiting on when the Tigers finally DFA Baez…
Get rid of him or McKinistry and call up the hot hitting Sweeney.
“Just waiting on”…You’ll most likely be “waiting” until the Tigers owe Baez $10M or less, because I don’t see them eating more than that on a very bad contract.
He can earn it from the bench and let someone who can hit their own weight play.
$73 million is a lot of money to eat. May need to try a bad contract-for-bad contract trade instead
The Angels might consider a Rendon for Baez trade… but I think I’d rather have Javy.
The Tigers can afford a bad contract. They have hardly any payroll right now. The problem is, the two highest contracts are the worst players on the team. Baez and Maeda.
There’s always next year…. To take on another bad contract even worse than these two.
Hopefully Carp will be back soon. I loved Baddoo’s playing style when he first came up but he has gotten worse each year since.
Would be surprised to see Badoo back in 2025
And the injury list rolls on
Nice rookie year for Perez, too bad it ends like this. Tigers will have a good problem to have in 2025 with a surplus of OF/DH’s in Greene, Meadows, Carpenter, Veirling, Perez and Henry-Malloy. Will see if the FO can figure something positive to do with this surplus, but doubtful
Let’s go, Baddoo!!!!!!
I think the Tiger’s outfield is set for 2025… Greene LF, Meadows CF, Carpenter RF with Wenceel as 4th OFer. They need a whole new infield. Keith is the only one I’d keep but I’d try and make him a 1B. He is brutal at second. Move Jung back to 2B. You have the right side covered. Baez at short with maybe Sweeney as platoon? Vierling at third? I would normally call for Kim and Bregman on the left side, but who would come to this team willingly? At catcher, Dingler and Rogers is an obvious solution but I would still look at trying to find someone who can hit. DH… Malloy? Tork? Pray for improvement from everyone. Pray for good health… The offense is thin as it is… once they get an injury, the whole thing crumbles.
I think they need a veteran bat somewhere, but I expect something closer to what you suggest. I could see a path to a Kim signing just because he fixes the problem at SS for the short term and is versatile enough to act as a Utility player later as well. Baez needs to go or sit on the bench. Of course they could trade some of their prospects/young players for a more established young star which would go a long way in shoring up the lineup. Add a solid bat or two to Keith, Greene, Carpenter and Vierling and hope for continued improvement from Malloy, Tork, Meadows, Dingler and Perez and that’s a decent lineup. Jung should get time next year or perhaps be trade bait for an upgrade. I could see Tork getting shipped out too if they think Keith and Malloy can handle 1B/DH better.
Tigers OF for 2025 should be Greene LF, Meadows CF, Carpenter RF with Wenceel or Malloy as 4th OFer. I’d hang onto Vierling (3B/CF) and Ibanez (2B/3B) as utility players. Wenceel or Malloy could be the other utility player/DH.
Tork will be back at 1B; let’s hope he doesn’t resort to how he “hit” this year. Colt will return at 2B because Tork will be at 1B – to start the season, at least. Jake/Dingler will share C duties. I expect Vierling to handle 3B until Jung comes up to take most of the reps. (I agree: I’d rather Yung at 2B & Colt at 1B.)
Expendable: Bligh, Gio, Baddoo, Vilade.
I’m afraid we’re stuck with Javy at least 1 more season. I can’t see Chris Ilitch eating $73 million. People demanding the Tigers “spend on FA” need to keep in mind Baez, Zimmerman, Maeda, etc..
I’d like to see us upgrade backup SS at least. McKinstry is weak on both sides of the ball.
You have to laugh if Perez is uninspiring who on the team is ? Hilarious, his numbers are not far from the top tiger anywhere, and if he’s allegedly not real good that should send shudders through our fan base. He’s been like world on fire for a Detroit Tiger rookie. He needs to play everyday.
The only good thing him going down is that it makes it easier for Kerry to come back along with Greene. Perez comes back in September’s roster expansion all tough decisions get postponed till the season ends. Next year the Tigers will get em. Next year.
Once again we see the rash of pulled muscles continue. I’m sure the team is aware of the right kind of diet for these kids. And the days of MLB players hitting the nightclubs and not getting enough sleep are a thing of the past. So what is going on here? Uh, who is monitoring the STRETCHING exercises before games? The coaches? Hinch’s coaches? We’ll never know since they can’t speak to the press. Seems to me they have very simple tasks, particularly with young players who believe they are invincible and would rather be on their phones than doing their stretching. The front office is oblivious, ownership doesn’t concern itself with such things, and the fans see little of what is supposed to be happening before games. Hinch is the manager…a “genius” in his own estimation, yet it seems the simplest tasks and oversight are beyond him..
This is what “country strong” meant….the kids got their muscles throwing about bales of hay instead of barbells. They lifted, twisted, heaved and did it for hours at a time on the family farm. And they had the right kind of strength, all the muscle-groups instead of big biceps for the calendar pics, but little general strength. And talk about big babies….a sore calf and they are sat down for ten days…..try that in the Marine Corps or the Army or a construction crew and see what happens.. The word “old school” gets thrown around a lot these days, but little of it is practiced. How about getting out the axes and shovels and giving these prima donnas some real exercise for a change? I mean, for millions of dollars and “working” 4 hours a day, half that time sitting on a bench spitting seed husks for only 7 months a year, the fans deserve better.