Detroit Tigers’ starting outfielder Wenceel Perez was removed from Saturday’s game vs. the Los Angeles Angels after the fourth inning, MLive.com’s Evan Woodbery reported.
Perez fouled a pitch off his right leg in the second frame before hitting a triple, but he looked “like he was running a bit stiffly” when he singled in his next at-bat. Zach McKinstry entered the game at shortstop and Javier Baez moved to center field in the fifth.
The Tigers would end up losing to the Angels, 7-4, at Comerica Park.
Wenceel Perez exiting the game after the 4th inning.
McKinstry in at shortstop, Baez moving to center.
Perez fouled a ball off his leg in the second inning and then promptly tripled. In a subsequent at-bat, it looked like he was running a bit stiffly.
— Evan Woodbery (@evanwoodbery) August 9, 2025
The game was tied at 4-4 when Detroit removed Perez, who scored the Tigers’ first run after Andy Ibanez’s RBI single brought him home from third in the second inning. While Detroit has struggled over the past few weeks—seeing their 15-game lead in the AL Central shrink to six entering Saturday’s game—Perez has excelled over his last ten games since July 29.
During that span, he’s hitting .424 (14-for-33) with six extra-base hits (two home runs) and three stolen bases. The Tigers need that type of production down the stretch with the Cleveland Guardians breathing down their necks.
Perez has already spent time on the injured list this year due to lumbar spine inflammation and didn’t make his season debut until May 27. Detroit will hope his injury this time around isn’t nearly that serious.
The 25-year-old signed with the Tigers as an international free agent in 2016 and made his Major League debut in 2024. Perez has drastically improved in several categories from his rookie year, hitting .267/.321/.492 with 9 homers and 25 RBI over 58 games in 2025.
