Did Parker Meadows of the Detroit Tigers make the MLB catch of the year?
The August 12, 2024, Days of Roar podcast features Parker Meadows’ impressive game-saving catch in the eighth inning on August 7 against the Seattle Mariners.
Detroit Tigers manager AJ Hinch winked in Wednesday’s pregame press conference.
A question about the return of right-hander Casey Mize — who is scheduled to start Friday — prompted Hinch’s rare gesture. The Tigers cannot officially activate Mize until Friday, when he returns from the 60-day injured list, so Hinch won’t officially announce the plan until then.
“We expect that to happen,” Hinch said. “I don’t know how to wink at you anymore. We’re waiting because we have to wait. There’s no way for us to activate him any earlier than Friday, and we don’t have a starter on the roster on Friday.”
Hinch winked.
Everyone laughed.
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Mize, the No. 1 overall pick in 2018, starts Friday against the Boston Red Sox at Comerica Park, just in time to help the Tigers — who are above .500 this late in the season for the first time since 2016 — get into the postseason. The 27-year-old has been sidelined for the past two months with a strained left hamstring.
Left-hander Tarik Skubal will start the game on Saturday.
“I hope I can help a team that has been winning so far to continue to win,” Mize said. “I think that’s the most important thing. It’s a great group right now and I’m excited to help out there.”
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In 2024, Mize posted a 4.23 ERA with 21 walks and 58 strikeouts in 78⅔ innings in 16 starts before the injury. He has not pitched for the Tigers since June 30.
Mize also shared his personal goals for the final month of the season, likely five or six starts.
“Just finishing strong and finishing the season healthy would be super positive news,” Mize said. “Increasing my innings limit or innings this year would just be a good feeling for next year without really having a limit or supporting a limit that might exist.”
A four-day rehab assignment resulted in Mize’s timely return. He allowed four runs on 10 hits and four walks with 17 strikeouts in 13⅔ innings at Triple-A Toledo and posted a 2.63 ERA. In his fourth start, Mize completed 4⅔ innings on 78 pitches.
He should be ready to pitch at least six innings in Friday’s start against the Red Sox.
“I felt pretty good throughout the rehab sessions,” Mize said. “I felt like I could have done more every session. So I think we’re at a good point where we’ve built up enough that I feel like I could do more. I think we accomplished what we needed to accomplish.”
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During his rehab, Mize worked closely with pitching coach Doug Bochtler, pitching coach Ollie Kadey and manager Tim Federowicz. A side task of Mize’s rehab was improving his slider, which he needs to make batters miss for strikeouts.
In his four rehab starts, he posted a 33.3% whiff rate with his slider, a big improvement over the 18.9% whiff rate in his previous 16 starts with the Tigers.
“That includes the adjustment,” Mize said, “and a slight grip adjustment as well. The pitch doesn’t move much differently, but it comes out of my hand a little differently. I think it will reflect some of the other stuff a little better. I hope that translates to this level like it did there, but we’ll see.”
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The injured Wenceel Pérez has to fight with the other batsman
Outfielder Wenceel Pérez (left oblique abdominal strain) has been swinging in the batting cage, doing running drills on the field and participating in light defensive activities.
Pérez, a switch hitter, presents the Tigers with an interesting dilemma because his left-handed swing is further along in the recovery process than his right-handed swing. Keep in mind that Pérez injured his left oblique while swinging from the right side of the plate.
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The Tigers are considering sending Pérez on a rehab assignment, possibly as early as next week, but in that case he would likely only play on the left side.
“We actually feel like we’re rehabilitating two players,” Hinch said. “The left-handed swing is ahead of the right-handed swing in volume and intensity. The question will be, ‘Do we send him out before we’re comfortable with him hitting right-handed, or do we wait to see if he’s a complete player before we send him out?’ We’ll talk about that soon.”
Pérez will participate in live batting practice this weekend, swinging only with his left hand. His symptoms and handedness will ultimately determine when he plays rehab games in the minor leagues.
Planned day off
Centerfielder Parker Meadows did not start on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Angels, although the 24-year-old has a batting average of .333 with 14 of 29 extra bases in his last 22 games.
It was a planned day off.
The Tigers will continue to give Meadows (right hamstring strain), Riley Greene (right hamstring strain) and Kerry Carpenter (lumbar stress fracture) days off, especially leading up to Tuesday’s off day, as the trio recently returned from injuries.
“Part of the plan when we got all these guys back healthy was this 14-game stretch to get a day off,” Hinch said. “We’ve planned out a little bit this week. Tomorrow I’m going to play pretty strong left-handed against their starter. Knowing what we want against each of them over the next few days, I’m trying to squeeze in a day off for the guys, especially the ones that have recovered from some injuries.”
Contact Evan Petzold at [email protected] or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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