Tigers Deliver Two Massive Injury Updates as One Star Returns, Another Starts Rehab

Reinforcements are on the way for the Detroit Tigers.

During an appearance on MLB Radio on Tuesday morning, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch revealed two extremely significant injury updates on stars who have been out.

Defensive specialist catcher Jake Rogers is being activated off the injured list and will catch for Tarik Skubal's start on Tuesday night against the St. Louis Cardinals after catching every game of his 2024 unanimous American League Cy Young campaign.

In addition to the return of Rogers, Hinch dropped another massive nugget by revealing star center fielder Parker Meadows is beginning his rehab assignment this evening in Triple-A Toledo.

Meadows has been out since spring training with a nerve issue in his throwing arm which put him on the 60-day injured list and at times brought into question whether or not he would be able to return at all in 2025.

Clearly the 25-year-old has attacked his recovery with a relentless drive to get back on the field, and this is the first major step towards making that happen. He is not eligible to return to Detroit until the end of the month and it will likely be longer than that with him just starting a rehab assignment, but clearly Meadows is a lot closer to being back than many thought.

In all likelihood, the return of Rogers will mean Tomas Nido -- who has done a nice job filling in as the second catcher -- will be designated for assignment as Dillon Dingler continues to excel as well, however surely Detroit would love to keep him in Toledo as well if they can.

As for the outfield, the Tigers are about to have an influx of talent with both Meadows and utility man Matt Vierling on the cusp of joining the team.

For Hinch, it looks like he will have infinite lineup and defensive alignment combinations to play around with and give Detroit the most advantageous possible matchup sooner rather than later.