Parker Meadows had more testing done and it's not good injury news for Tigers
LAKELAND, Fla. — After underdoing more tests, Detroit Tigers center fielder Parker Meadows has been prescribed more rest and cannot throw for four more weeks.
But Meadows can do all other baseball activities, including fielding, running and light hitting.
“If we can utilize that time for all other parts of his body, we're hoping that's an advantage,” manager A.J. Hinch said Saturday morning. “Because he's not shut down from anything else — it's strictly about the throwing.”
Meadows injured a nerve in his throwing shoulder in the Tigers’ first spring training game and has not played since.
“There's no damage to the nerve, which is encouraging,” Hinch said. “But not all appointments come with great news. It's also not firing at the level that we need to advance.”
Right now, the Tigers are just waiting for the nerve to wake up and there is no timetable when he might return.
“It’s just time,” Hinch said. “I don't really know what that means after — when or if he gets cleared to do full activities, but obviously, we're hoping sometime between now and then, there's significant improvement and we're ready to hit the ground running, literally.”
Hinch said the nerve issue is not a chronic issue and will not require surgery.
“There’s nothing long term,” he said.
A full recovery is expected. “There are guys that have dealt with it, doctors who have dealt with this as a career, feel very confident that the full recovery is coming,” Hinch said.
In the meantime, the Tigers want Meadows to get ready to play baseball — everything but throwing.
“He can do a little bit of light swinging,” Hinch said. “He can run. He can do defense. He's doing defense (Saturday). Every single thing that he can do, except for throw.”
Meadows was a key player who sparked last year's 31-11 run to the postseason.
Without Meadows, Wenceel Pérez is expected to be the primary center fielder.
But the Tigers are trying to find other contingencies — some of which are outside the box.
On Saturday, Javier Báez is starting in center against Atlanta.
“He's an athlete,” Hinch said. “I bet he's a little nervous. When I talked to him about it, he was gung-ho. Now, that it has gotten closer. He realizes there's a lot of responsibility in the biggest part of the field for him to have to deal with.”
The Tigers do not envision Báez to play significant time in center. It’s just an option.
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Parker Meadows injury update: Tigers CF won't throw for another month
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