The Detroit Tigers have themselves a new veteran outfielder in the fold, as they came to terms on a contract with Manuel Margot. But shortly after the signing was announced, discouraging injury news was also revealed.

The Tigers, who are already dealing with injuries to the likes of Parker Meadows, Matt Vierling, and Akil Baddoo, have now lost Wenceel Perez thanks to lower-back inflammation. He’s been ruled out for at least a month.

The news was confirmed by Tigers President of Baseball Operations Scott Harris, who also indicated that Perez is scheduled to receive a back injection later this week via The Detroit Free Press.

“He is scheduled to get an injection later this week and will be out at least a month,” Harris said, via Detroit Free Press writer Evan Petzold. “We will share more information about the exact injury and prognosis as we learn more this week.”

Meanwhile, Margot played multiple seasons with the San Diego Padres and Tampa Bay Rays before playing last season with the Minnesota Twins. He was recently released by the Milwaukee Brewers and is expected to be on Detroit’s roster for their regular season opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers on March 27.

Detroit Tigers OF Wenceel Perez had a strong rookie season

Detroit Tigers outfielder Wenceel Perez (46) singles in the in the eighth inning against the Cleveland Guardians during game four of the ALDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Comerica Park.
Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images
Perez earned his first MLB call-up last April and was never returned to Triple-A Toledo. In his rookie MLB campaign for the Tigers, he posted a stat line of .242/.300/.383 with a 93 OPS+.

Earlier this month, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch described Perez’s first foray in the majors as “impressive”, via MLB.com.

“What I’ve learned about Wenceel is he can handle it all,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said Thursday. “The bat quality is really good. His feel for the outfield is better than I think any of us expected. He’s continuing to get better and can get a lot better. There may be a day when he goes back into the infield and plays both on the dirt and the grass. But last year doesn’t happen without his contribution, and a lot of that was a new position at the highest level that he’d never played at. That’s pretty impressive.”