The Detroit Tigers made two key roster moves ahead of their series against the first-place Cleveland Guardians on Monday, activating Javier Baez from the Injured List and calling up Akil Baddoo from Triple-A Toledo.
The Tigers optioned infielder Ryan Kreidler to Toledo and placed centerfielder Parker Meadows on the 10-day Injured List as corresponding moves.
Baez has not played since June 8, but is in the lineup at shortstop and batting sixth for the Tigers on Monday.
The 31-year-old infielder is struggling through his worst season in the majors at the plate this season. He’s hitting just .183 with 1 home run and a .209 on-base percentage. That adds up to a -1.4 bWAR over 53 games played. Baez went 4-12 with a home run in four rehab games in Toledo before Detroit activated him.
The Tigers need more from Baez to justify playing him every day, even if he still has a solid glove. The franchise’s president of baseball operations, Scott Harris, talked through the situation in a late-May appearance on MLB Network.
“On the offensive side of the ball, he’s going through some adjustments right now,” he said. “He’s on the other side of 30, but it doesn’t make him old. He still has that fast twitch, he still has that athleticism. We just gotta find a way to help him make some adjustments to get back to barreling balls and punishing mistakes like he did in a Cubs uniform back a few years ago. So we’re just focused on trying to put him in a position to help us win games.”
As for Baddoo, the leftfielder also has not hit in Detroit this season, though he has played less. The lefty hitter is batting .132 with 2 home runs in 22 games in 2024. He’s batting eighth, right behind Baez on Monday.
Parker Meadows heads to the IL
Just three games after returning to the majors, Parker Meadows is on the IL with a right hamstring strain. The injury appears to have occurred during the Tigers’ Sunday game against the Cincinnati Reds as he was thrown out trying to steal second.
Tigers manager AJ Hinch gave his thoughts on the injury before the Guardians series.
“It’s not a massive injury,” he said, “but it’s one that’s going to take him out of the lineup.”
2024 has quickly become a lost season for the Tigers centerfielder as he was looking to build off a promising start to his career in late 2023. Detroit demoted him in May as his batting average toiled below .100, and he appeared to rediscover his swing. In two months with Toledo, he hit .298 with an OPS of .905.
Detroit brought him back to the Majors on July 5 and he went 4-11 with a home run in three games against the Reds.
There’s no word yet on how long Meadows will be out, but if the injury is minor, as Hinch indicated, the timing could be advantageous. Meadows would be eligible to return after the All-Star break, meaning in an ideal situation, he would only need to miss the Guardians series and the Tigers’ weekend set with the Dodgers.