DETROIT -- Just when the Tigers seemed to be getting closer to full strength in their outfield, the injury bug strikes again. While they reinstated Wenceel Pérez from the 60-day injured list Tuesday for his season debut, they placed fellow outfielder Matt Vierling back on the 10-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation.
Pérez celebrated his return with a home run on his first swing of the season, turning on a 2-0 pitch from Logan Webb and lining it over the right-field wall for a solo homer in the second inning. He bounced and skipped part of his way around the bases in excitement.
“It feels amazing,” Pérez said after the Tigers’ 3-1 win over the Giants. “I’m so excited to play this game again.”
Vierling played in just four games for the Tigers after coming off the injured list last Friday, having spent nearly two months on the IL following a right rotator cuff strain. He reported soreness in his shoulder following Monday’s win over the Giants, a game he entered the late innings in center field after Javier Báez was ejected.
“There wasn’t a singular event or episode or anything,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “After the game, he came in and complained of some shoulder soreness, so we sent him for tests, saw some doctors. We’re going to need to get further testing, but we can’t mess with this coming off of the most recent shoulder issue that he’s had.”
Much like when Vierling and Parker Meadows were injured in Spring Training, Pérez is the logical replacement in the outfield. The speedy switch-hitter played extensively in center field this spring before he was sidelined with lower back inflammation, an injury that eventually required two injections and a stint on the 60-day injured list. He played six games on a Minor League rehab assignment without issue.
Pérez worked out with the team at Comerica Park on Monday, an off-day in the Minor Leagues. Rather than sending him back to Triple-A Toledo, the Tigers kept him around. With Vierling out, Detroit placed Pérez in Tuesday’s starting lineup against San Francisco, playing center field.
“So proud of that kid,” Hinch said. “He’s worked hard. Injuries are hard on everybody, but think about the last game of Spring Training and we’re getting on the plane to go to the exhibition games [in San Francisco], and he’s got to report that he’s not feeling great. That’s a crushing blow anytime during the spring, but that getaway day is the most exciting day of the year at that point …
“This was a serious injury for him to miss this much time, and that infectious smile comes out, that good barrel from the get-go. He’s bouncing around center field and back with his teammates after a long rehab, and that’s really rewarding for a lot of people.”
While the Tigers are covered in the outfield between Pérez’s return and the amazing play of Báez in center field, they’ll face another challenge replacing Vierling at third base. He didn’t get a chance to play there before the shoulder inflammation, but Detroit made a point to have him get games and plays there during his rehab assignment last week before bringing him back, even flying him to Lakeland for two games with its Single-A affiliate when rain created issues in Toledo.
With Pérez in center, Báez started at third base Tuesday. Zach McKinstry and Andy Ibáñez have also played well there, reprising their roles from the Tigers’ incredible run down the stretch and into the playoffs last season.
If Vierling is sidelined long term, Detroit could look for a third baseman on the market leading into the Trade Deadline at the end of July.