The Detroit Tigers are waiting to make a decision.
Outfielder Robbie Grossman exited Tuesday’s 5-3 loss before the seventh inning with right groin tightness. He suffered the injury on the bases in the fifth when he slid back into first base on Jonathan Schoop’s popout in foul territory.
“I’m just sore today,” Grossman said Wednesday morning.
Grossman, a 10-year MLB veteran, said the MRI didn’t show a significant injury and his groin injury is tightness, not a strain.
The 32-year-old could avoid the 10-day injured list.
“We’ll see day-to-day how he feels,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “We’re going to give it 24 hours. It sounds like it’s less groin and a little bit more back tightness that revealed itself as a little bit of hip-groin tightness. He’s getting every test imaginable done, and he’s moving around a little better than he was even earlier this morning when I saw him.”
Grossman said he will undergo further treatment Wednesday in hopes of mitigating the tightness. The Tigers will make a decision on Grossman’s status by Friday at the latest.
If he isn’t healthy, the Tigers will send him to the injured list.
“We can wait for a couple of days and see how it goes,” Hinch said. “I think we’ll know a little bit more in 24 hours. But he needs to show improvement in the next 24 hours for us to play with a short roster tomorrow.”
Grossman is hitting .059 (1-for-17) with one RBI, two walks and seven strikeouts in five games. He played 156 games for the Tigers in 2021, posting team-best marks with a .357 on-base percentage, 23 home runs, 98 walks and 20 stolen bases.
Daz Cameron in clubhouse
As a contingency plan, the Tigers added outfielder Daz Cameron to the taxi squad and will take him to Kansas City for the upcoming four-game series, Thursday through Sunday, against the Royals.
Cameron was in the Tigers’ clubhouse Wednesday morning.
The 25-year-old had a busy Tuesday: He got the call from the Tigers at approximately 4 p.m. EST, caught a flight out of Iowa at 7:45 p.m., landed in Chicago at 9:45 p.m., took a second flight at 10:10 p.m. and touched down in Detroit by 11 p.m. He got settled into his hotel around midnight.
“Once you get a call like that, you want to get up and go,” Cameron said. “That’s your first instinct. Something like that happens with Grossman, it’s tough to hear about, but it’s good to be back here.”
Cameron, the No. 37 overall pick 2015, hit .194 with four home runs, 10 walks and 38 strikeouts in 35 games for the Tigers last season. He has a .194 batting average in 52 career games across parts of two MLB seasons.
He played eight games in this year’s spring training before the organization optioned him to Triple-A Toledo.
“It was tough. It was frustrating,” Cameron said. “I felt like I came in ready. Of course, there’s going to be some hiccups in spring training, but those are things that you really can’t control. My job is to go out and continue to be me.”
If everyone was healthy, there would be six outfielders ahead of Cameron on the depth chart: Grossman, Austin Meadows, Riley Greene, Akil Baddoo, Victor Reyes and Derek Hill.
Cameron could be running out of time to cement himself as an asset in the big leagues. The Tigers acquired him from the Houston Astros in the 2017 Justin Verlander trade.
“You just control what you can control,” Cameron said. “Obviously, moves are going to be made, but I’m happy to be here. Those things that happen, that’s the business side of it. For me, I’m looking to continue to do my job.”
In six games for the Mud Hens, Cameron hit .167 (4-for-24) with two doubles, two walks and 10 strikeouts. He has made two starts in center field and two starts in right field.
“He’s got a ton of talent,” Hinch said. “He’s got the ability to play here, and he needs experience. It’s just general baseball experience — I don’t necessarily think it’s major-league experience. … There’s little parts of every part of his game that could use a tune-up, but he’ll flash ability that argues he should be up here gaining that experience here. Sometimes, rosters don’t dictate that.”
Pineda, Peralta with Mud Hens
Right-handers Michael Pineda and Wily Peralta pitched for Triple-A Toledo on Tuesday night against the Iowa Cubs in Des Moines. Both pitchers could join the Tigers soon.
Pineda will make his next start Sunday for the Mud Hens, while Peralta will come out of the bullpen Thursday. Peralta could join the Tigers in Kansas City, but the Tigers haven’t made a decision yet.
In Tuesday’s start, Pineda allowed four runs on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts in 3⅓ innings. He threw 37 of 55 pitches for strikes.
“He was pretty good for three innings and ran into a ton of trouble in the fourth,” Hinch said. “He looked very much like he’s always looked. He’s continuing to build. It looked like a spring training start for him. Location got less sharp in the fourth, about when the fatigue sets in, which is why we’re continuing to build him up.”
Peralta pitched one scoreless inning. He allowed one hit, picked up one strikeout and threw 10 of 11 pitches for strikes.
“He did OK,” Hinch said. “It’s the second spring training outing. You never would consider starting the season after two outings. Three is pushing it. We’re going to consider it after three. He came in good throwing shape, that’s a good sign. I thought his stuff was pretty good. His velocity is good. His arm strength is good.”
Javy Báez scratched
At 11:51 a.m., the Tigers scratched shortstop Javier Báez from the starting lineup with right thumb soreness. He reported Wednesday morning to Comerica Park and was supposed to hit third in the batting order.
Harold Castro replaced Báez at shortstop, entering as the No. 6 hitter in the lineup.
Miguel Cabrera had a scheduled off day.
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