Detroit — Wenceel Perez probably imagined his debut for the 2026 Detroit Tigers looking a little different.
Left off Detroit’s Opening Day roster, the 26-year-old outfielder got recalled for Friday’s game against the Miami Marlins after an outfield collision on Thursday sent Parker Meadows to the injured list with a broken arm and concussion, among other ailments.
“There’s things you can’t control, sometimes,” Perez said on Friday about not making the team. “That was out of my control. What I do is just play baseball and try to do my best all the time. I just tried to stay positive and keep working, find a way.”
And now with the Tigers after a strong offensive start to the season in Toledo playing AAA ball, Perez will make his 2026 MLB debut, batting eighth and starting in right field.
“I talked about it being a little bit unfair that the 26-man roster had to be set when it did, and that Wenceel really didn’t deserve more time in the minor leagues,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “But he went down and from the day that I told him, had a monster day, the last day of spring, and then got off to a hot start in AAA. So he is logically and clearly the next best option for us to come up and join the roster.”
Hinch on Friday said it had been a tough decision to not include Perez on Detroit’s Opening Day roster, but sluggish offensive figures through spring training were hard to ignore, as Perez hit .190.
But after learning he’d be starting the season in Toledo, Perez went out and had a strong outing on the final day of spring training. That it clicked into place was a result of time on task, but also Perez having some extra motivation in the tank.
“Probably both,” Perez said. “I was motivated.”
After hitting a pair of home runs in his final spring training outing, Perez turned it on in Toledo.
In 44 at bats in 10 games, Perez is hitting .250 with an .808 OPS. He has 11 hits, nine runs scored and five extra-base hits – two homers and a trio of doubles.
He’s also taken seven walks to as many strikeouts, improving his swing decisions after 13 strikeouts to just four walks in spring training.
Perez chalked up that improvement to seeing some more pitches as time wore on and making a small tweak to his timing to not be behind on his decisions.
“Because I was doing it so quick, that’s why probably I was swinging at so many pitches out of the zone,” Perez said.
The hot bat and strong start all resulted in Perez being the clear choice for Hinch and Co. to tab to replace Meadows in Detroit’s lineup. Playing in Toledo on Thursday, Perez drove to Detroit and arrived in the Motor City on Thursday night to be ready for Friday’s game.
Perez made his MLB debut with Detroit in 2024 and has been a regular contributor for the Tigers the past two seasons.
In 2025, Perez appeared in 100 games, batting .244 and hitting 13 home runs as part of 30 extra-base hits as he played across the outfield defensively.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Wenceel Perez set for 2026 Tigers debut, motivated by Opening Day snub
Reporting by Andrew Graham, Special to The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
