Detroit ― Parker Meadows could be getting close to returning to the Tigers. Matt Vierling, well, time will tell.
Meadows was in the Tigers’ clubhouse before Monday’s game against the New York Mets, continuing his rehab work while the Toledo Mud Hens had a day off. Meadows, out with a right quad strain, played consecutive games in center field on his rehab assignment for Toledo on Saturday and Sunday, a positive sign in his progress toward rejoining the Tigers, manager AJ Hinch said Monday.
Meadows was hitless with three strikeouts Sunday, but just getting through a second game in a row on defense was what the Tigers wanted to see.
“Parker’s been pretty good. He said this is the best his body’s felt,” Hinch said before the opener of a three-game series with the New York Mets at Comerica Park. Meadows, arguably the biggest key to the Tigers’ magical run to the playoffs a year ago, has been out since late July. “He’s played back-to-back days. He got up to eight innings (Sunday). We’ve got to get his timing back.
“We’re going series by series, but he’s playing with freedom. I talked to Gabe Alvarez (Toledo manager) this morning, and he says he’s getting after it on defense, which is really the telltale (sign) that he’s feeling good.”
Meadows, who’s had two stints on the injured list this season, will play for Toledo on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the Tigers have an off-day Thursday. There’s at least a chance he could return to the Tigers for this weekend’s series at home against the Chicago White Sox.
On his latest rehab assignment, Meadows, 25, is 3-for-16 with a triple and an RBI, but also eight strikeouts. He did draw a walk Sunday against a left-handed pitcher.
As for Vierling, who’s out with a left oblique strain, Hinch described his progress Monday as “slow but surely.” He was continuing to work out in Detroit on Monday, and he’s been taking swings on the indoor batting cage. The Tigers are using a very cautious approach with his rehab work.
“Given the time of year and the nature of the injury, where a setback would likely end his season, we have to be very careful,” Hinch said of Vierling, who’s been out since Aug. 10, just two days after he hit a late-game home run (his only homer of the season) to lead the Tigers to a key comeback win over the Los Angeles Angels. “He’s just not full-go yet.”
The Tigers on Monday recalled Justyn-Henry Malloy, who gives them some more depth, at least in the corner outfield spots, while Meadows and Vierling continue to work their way back.
Also in the clubhouse Monday was veteran starter Jose Urquidy, whose rehab with Toledo has been extended as he continues to work his way back from Tommy John surgery. Hinch said Urquidy, a right-hander who pitched for him in Houston, is flashing some good stuff with Toledo, but that the command is a little off, as he’s allowed seven earned runs in his last 8.2 innings with Toledo.
Hinch also said veteran reliever Paul Sewald (right shoulder strain), acquired from the Cleveland Guardians at the trade deadline and eligible to come off the IL next week, has been throwing live batting practice in Lakeland, a positive sign that he could pitch for the team before the postseason.
Right-hander Sawyer Gipson-Long also was in Detroit on Monday, and will be activated to start Tuesday’s game. Fellow right-hander Chase Lee was promoted before Monday’s game, giving the Tigers extra help in the bullpen for the series opener, which saw Detroit use five pitchers (but not Lee) in a 10-8 loss.
“A lot of moving parts,” Hinch said.
Around the horn
➤ Veteran right-hander Kenta Maeda’s last appearance in the major leagues appears to have been with the Tigers. Maeda, 37, recently told a Tokyo TV show that he plans to pitch in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball club in 2026, returning to the league where he pitched before signing an eight-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2016. Maeda was a bust in Detroit, after signing a two-year, $24-million contract before the 2024 season. After he was released, he signed a minor-league contract with the Chicago Cubs, and now is in the New York Yankees organization.
For his major-league career, in which he pitched in nine seasons, Maeda was 68-56 with a 4.20 ERA in 226 appearances (172 starts). His best season was the COVID-shortened 2020 with the Minnesota Twins, when he finished runner-up for the American League Cy Young Award.
➤ Former Tigers ace Justin Verlander still has more than enough to compete, even at 42 years and 192 days, becoming the oldest pitcher to record 10 or more strikeouts in a game since Randy Johnson in August 2008 (when Johnson was 44 years and 347 days). Verlander struck out 10 in five innings for the San Francisco Giants on Sunday, in earning his 265th career win. The only other pitchers older than Verlander to strike out 10 or more in the last 125 years: Roger Clemens, Nolan Ryan and Gaylord Perry. Verlander has said he plans to pitch again next season, and till he’s at least 45.
➤ The Tigers, at 80-58, entered September with the best record in the American League for the 11th time in franchise history, and just the second time this century (2006). It’s worth noting, the four times the Tigers won a World Series (1984, 1968, 1945, 1935), they had the AL’s best record on Sept. 1.
➤ The Tigers already have topped 2 million on home attendance this season, with all of September’s home games to go (12 more). They’re likely to have their best home attendance since 2016, when they drew 2,493,859.
➤ Remember the Tigers’ beleaguered bullpen? It had a 2.98 ERA in August, second-best in Major League Baseball, in large part because of the trade for Kyle Finnegan, who hasn’t allowed a run in his first 14.1 innings with the Tigers.
Mets at Tigers
➤ First pitch: 6:40 p.m. Tuesday, Comerica Park, Detroit
➤ TV/radio: FanDuel Sports Network Detroit/97.1
SCOUTING REPORT
➤ RHP Nolan McLean (3-0, 0.89), Mets: A top-100 prospect entering the season, he’s been dynamite in his first three major-league starts, with just 10 hits allowed in 20.1 innings. He’s struck out 21 and walked just four. Last time out, McLean threw eight innings of shutout ball against the Philadelphia Phillies.
➤ RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long (0-1, 4.32), Tigers: He was back in the clubhouse Monday, getting reacclimated to Detroit ahead of his return to the Tigers rotation. This will mark his seventh appearance with the Tigers this season after returning from Tommy John surgery, and third start. He’s given up 22 hits in 25 innings, while striking out 20.
tpaul@detroitnews.com
@tonypaul1984
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