Meadows hospitalized, replacement called
Meadows was hospitalized overnight in Minneapolis for observation after the collision, and Detroit called up outfielder Wenceel Pérez from Triple‑A Toledo to fill the roster spot. (Yardbarker: hospitalization details; Detroit Free Press: Pérez call‑up) (yardbarker.com) (freep.com).
Parker Meadows left Thursday’s game in Minneapolis on a cart after colliding with Riley Greene in left-center field, and the Tigers sent him to a hospital for overnight observation instead of back to the clubhouse. (espn.com) By Friday, Detroit had a fuller diagnosis: Meadows went on the 10-day injured list with a concussion and a fractured radius bone in his left forearm. (mlb.com) The play happened in the eighth inning at Target Field on a shallow fly ball, with Meadows charging in from center field and Greene moving over from left field as both tried to make the catch. Greene held onto the ball, but the collision left Meadows bleeding from the face and down on the grass while trainers rushed out. (freep.com) The game kept moving after that, and the Twins broke a 1-1 tie later in the inning on a two-run single by Brooks Lee in a 3-1 win that finished a four-game sweep of Detroit. (espn.com) Manager A.J. Hinch called it “an ugly, scary one” on Thursday, and on Friday he said Meadows faces a long recovery even though the club has not ruled out a return later in 2026. (mlb.com, sports.yahoo.com) Detroit’s immediate fix was Wenceel Pérez, a 26-year-old switch-hitting outfielder recalled from Triple-A Toledo to take Meadows’ roster spot. (usatoday.com) Pérez was not coming up cold: in his first 10 games for Toledo in 2026, he had an.808 on-base plus slugging percentage, 2 home runs, and 3 stolen bases. (milb.com) He is also not a pure emergency body, because he already logged 733 Major League Baseball at-bats before this call-up and owns a career.243 batting average with 22 home runs in the majors. (milb.com) The harder part for Detroit is replacing Meadows in center field, because he was the regular there and outfield collisions are one of the few baseball injuries that can take out both a bat and a defender in one second. (usatoday.com, espn.com) So the story is now split in two timelines: Meadows is recovering from a concussion and a broken forearm after one play in Minnesota, and Pérez is back in Detroit trying to cover innings that were not supposed to open up in April. (mlb.com, usatoday.com)
