The Tigers placed Kerry Carpenter on the 10-day injured list on May 10 with a left AC joint sprain and selected Gage Workman from Triple-A to fill his spot on the active roster. Detroit also moved Justin Verlander from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list to clear a 40-man roster opening for Workman.
Carpenter was removed early from Detroit’s 5-1 loss to the Royals on May 9 after he ran into the wall while chasing a Bobby Witt Jr. grounder to right field. The ball went for an inside-the-park home run, and Carpenter had singled in his only plate appearance before leaving prior to the bottom of the third inning.
The injury cost Detroit its regular right fielder at a time when Carpenter was hitting.216/.299/.451 with six home runs over 117 plate appearances. He carried a 105 wRC+ despite a 34.2% strikeout rate, and he became the 15th player on the Tigers’ injured list. Gleyber Torres, Javier Baez, Parker Meadows and Trey Sweeney were already there among Detroit position players.
Wenceel Perez was the likeliest candidate to get most of the right field playing time in Carpenter’s absence, with Jahmai Jones and Zach McKinstry also in the mix. That creates an opening for Workman, who had been producing at a high level in Triple-A Toledo with a.358/.413/.590 slash line over his first 150 plate appearances of the 2026 season.
Workman, a fourth-round pick by Detroit in the 2020 draft, made his major league debut last season and posted a.485 OPS over 17 plate appearances in 12 games with the Cubs and White Sox. The Cubs selected him in the 2024 Rule 5 Draft, and the White Sox designated him for assignment and returned him to Detroit last May. He has mostly played shortstop and third base, but has also seen time at second base and all three outfield positions.
Verlander’s roster move was tied to a slower recovery from hip inflammation. He was placed on the 15-day injured list on April 1, 2026, cannot officially return to the Tigers’ rotation until May 31 at the earliest, and threw 38 pitches in a live batting-practice session the day before the announcement. A.J. Hinch said more throwing sessions are needed before Verlander can begin a minor league rehab assignment, which leaves Detroit leaning on depth while one of its most experienced pitchers works back.
For now, the Tigers are patching two different holes at once: one in right field and another on the 40-man roster. Workman gets his chance because Carpenter got hurt, and Carpenter’s absence only deepens the burden on a club already carrying injuries across the lineup.
