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Detroit Tigers outfielder Matt Vierling to miss Opening Day with right shoulder injury
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- Detroit Tigers outfielder Matt Vierling to miss Opening Day with right shoulder injury
DUNEDIN, Fla. — Detroit Tigers outfielder/third baseman Matt Vierling won't make the Opening Day roster.
The 28-year-old has been diagnosed with a strained rotator cuff muscle in his right shoulder. The right shoulder injury calls for roughly three weeks of rest before being re-evaluated for baseball activities, so Vierling will miss the start of the 2025 season.
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The Opening Day game for the Tigers is scheduled for March 27 — less than four weeks away — against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
"Given the timeline, he's not going to be available for Opening Day," manager A.J. Hinch said Friday morning. "The doctors have told us that he needs a period of rest, which is going to impact Opening Day. I don't know anything more after that on how long. We'll know more in a few weeks."
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Detroit Tigers outfielder Matt Vierling, center, talks to teammates during spring training at TigerTown in Lakeland, Fla. on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025.
In 2024, Vierling hit .257 with 16 home runs, 41 walks and 121 strikeouts across 144 games. He logged 401 innings in center field, 369⅓ innings at third base, 247 innings in right field and 91 innings in left field, plus two innings at first base. He made 50 of his 125 starts in the leadoff spot, along with 40 starts batting third.
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It was the best season of his four-year MLB career.
Vierling is a leader in the Tigers' clubhouse , but his presence will be missed in the everyday lineup while on the injured list.
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The Tigers didn't specify the exact cause of Vierling's right shoulder injury, which led to the strained rotator cuff muscle, but Hinch said he had been dealing with general soreness in the area for an undisclosed period.
Vierling played in his only spring training game Sunday against the New York Yankees , receiving three plate appearances and logging four innings in center field.
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The shoulder injury didn't occur on a play in the game.
"From what I understand, there wasn't a singular event that created this," Hinch said of Vierling's shoulder injury. "It was just lingering soreness to the point where we needed to intervene and get him looked at, and it revealed the strain."
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Without Vierling, the third-base platoon of Jace Jung (against right-handed pitchers) and Andy Ibáñez (against left-handed pitchers) remains intact, with Zach McKinstry as the backup shortstop in a utility role. More notably, the door opens for outfielders Wenceel Pérez and Justyn-Henry Malloy to be on the roster together. Others key names competing for roster spots include Trey Sweeney and Spencer Torkelson .
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The Tigers — assuming Ibáñez and McKinstry are safe — seem likely to pick between these seven players for three spots on the Opening Day roster: Jung, Malloy, Pérez, Sweeney, Torkelson, Jahmai Jones and Ryan Kreidler .
Hinch didn't name Jung as the third baseman.
"Guys still need to earn their way on this team," Hinch said. "Third base, center field, right field, a little bit of left field — it probably impacts a little bit of all of that. We have a lot of different ways that we can put this team together, so it's not a singular position that is all of a sudden open. It's more the sum of the parts."
Where is Parker Meadows ?
Center fielder Parker Meadows remains sidelined with right upper arm inflammation .
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The Tigers did not provide a new update, but expect new information in the coming days — likely Saturday or Sunday — once there's a full assessment of the arm injury. For now, Meadows is undergoing further medical evaluation.
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The 25-year-old tweaked his biceps on a throw in Saturday's game against the Philadelphia Phillies , the first game of spring training. The Tigers initially described his status as day-to-day, but after six days, he still hasn't participated in baseball activities.
In 2024, the Tigers had a 54-28 record in games Meadows played.
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Meadows hit .244 with nine home runs, 25 walks and 76 strikeouts across 82 games for the Tigers last season, including hitting .299 with an .857 OPS in 50 games after changing his swing mechanics in Triple-A Toledo.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Matt Vierling injury update: Tigers leader to miss Opening Day 2025
