After seeing rookie starting pitcher Jackson Jobe undergo Tommy John surgery last month, the Detroit Tigers have been lucky to escape the injury bug.
The Tigers, who are tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers, have the best record in the majors at 53-32. They’ve been able to accomplish this feat thanks to stellar pitching and quality at-bats, which have come from Spencer Torkelson, Javier Baez, Riley Greene, and Kerry Carpenter.
However, the Tigers’ offense took a slight hit, as Carpenter suffered a hamstring injury against the Minnesota Twins over the weekend. The veteran outfielder legged out a triple in the fifth inning, but was replaced by Wenceel Perez.
Trey Sweeney Gets Quickly Recalled From Minors After Kerry Carpenter Injury
On Tuesday, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch told Jim Duquette on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM that they are putting Carpenter on the injured list, and calling up Trey Sweeney.
AJ Hinch just told us they are being conservative with Kerry Carpenter and putting him on the IL with his hammy issue and calling up Trey Sweeney again #tigers
— Jim Duquette (@JimDuquetteGM) July 1, 2025
While this isn’t great news for Detroit or Carpenter, who was hitting .462 with three home runs and five RBI in his last five games, it opens the door for Sweeney to show Hinch he deserves to be in the big leagues.
The 25-year-old Sweeney was optioned to Triple-A Toledo after the Tigers’ 4-1 loss last Friday to the Twins. Detroit activated outfielder Matt Vierling from the 10-day injured list to take his spot on the roster. Coincidentally, Vierling could see more at-bats with Carpenter now sidelined.
As for Sweeney, the left-handed-hitting shortstop has struggled to find his groove at the plate. In 70 games with the Tigers, he’s slugging .221 with four home runs and 23 RBI. He also has an OPS of .594, accompanied by a 33.8 hard hit rate, which is lower than it was in 2024 (47.4).
After hitting .253 with three home runs and 15 RBI in May, Sweeney came back down to earth, slugging a mediocre .182 with two doubles, two walks, and nine strikeouts in June.
This offseason, the lefty has struggled to hit against right-handed pitching (.207), but has found success against fellow southpaws (.275). It will be interesting to see how much Sweeney plays as the Tigers are taking a conservative approach with Carpenter.
That said, when Sweeney gets into the game, he needs to make the most of every at-bat he gets.