A.J. Hinch made the announcements on MLB Radio on Tuesday morning.
Detroit Tigers ’ manager A.J. Hinch was a guest on MLB Radio on Tuesday morning, and he had some important news to drop. Jake Rogers will be recalled from Triple-A Toledo with his rehab assignment completed. He will catch Tarik Skubal in Tuesday night’s matchup against the St. Louis Cardinals . Just as noteworthy was the news that center fielder Parker Meadows will begin his rehab assignment in Toledo on Tuesday night.
With Rogers recalled, that means Tomas Nido will be designated for assignment, and he’ll have to pass through waivers and accept the assignment to Triple-A Toledo for the Tigers to keep him. The veteran catcher didn’t get any major league offers this offseason, so interest isn’t going to be heavy, but there may be a team in need out there that decides to claim him. Hopefully not, as the Tigers depth at catcher is basically non-existent beyond him. Nido’s little hot streak at the plate, combined with good defensive work, has really helped the Tigers out with Rogers out. It would be great if they could keep him as depth.
Getting Rogers back is certainly good news. As one of the best defensive catchers in baseball and a team leader, the veteran backstop brings a lot to the table even if his bat has been pretty cold over the past year. Rogers has been tinkering with some changes to his stance in Toledo and is setting up with his hands higher, presumably to help him avoid getting too steep in his swing, which produced a lot of routine fly balls and whiffs in 2024.
Just as important is the recovery of Parker Meadows. The nerve injury he suffered at the beginning of spring camp has taken a long time to resolve. In terms of health, he’s probably going to be on track to return from the 60-day injured list as soon as he’s eligible on May 26th. However, the fact that he missed spring training and is no doubt pretty rusty at the plate right now may induce the Tigers to keep him in Toledo for more than just one series.
With Javier Báez playing well in Meadows’ stead, with some help from Riley Greene, the Tigers can afford to take their time and make sure Meadows is 100 percent before they call him up. When they do, finding playing time for everyone will get a little trickier, but the Tigers active roster will be even deeper that it already has proved to be in the first quarter of the season.
In a final bit of injury news, it looks highly probable that top prospect Kevin McGonigle will return to the West Michigan Whitecaps on Tuesday evening. The Whitecaps open a six-game home set against the Great Lakes Loons with RHP Rayner Castillo on the mound tonight. McGonigle has missed about six weeks of time, and rehabbed with the Lakeland Flying Tigers over the past week. He should be ready to return to West Michigan at this point.
Jake Rogers will be catching tonight vs Cardinals and Parker Meadows starting his rehab assignment at Toledo tonight, per A.J.Hinch on MLB radio.
— Pat Caputo (@patcaputo98) May 20, 2025