Tigers Injury Update: Parker Meadows clarity, Alex Cobb's light at end of tunnel

The Detroit Tigers got one of their injured center fielders back this week when Wenceel Pérez was activated off the injured list, and Parker Meadows may not be far behind.

Meadows has been on the IL since February with an upper-arm nerve injury that he suffered during the first game of spring training. He is currently batting 5-for-14 with a double, a triple, a home run and four RBI through four games of his rehab assignment at Triple-A Toledo, leading to speculation that he could soon be ready to make his season debut with the Tigers.

"We’re getting closer," Tigers manager AJ Hinch told Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic. "I think he needs a few more things to happen to work his way back here. We’re all peeking over the fence to see what he's doing. It's nice to see him doing well."

Once you weed through all the vague positivity, there's not actually much there in terms of an update on Meadows' status and return timeline. Stavenhagen, for his part, hypothesized that Meadows would be activated off the IL at some point during the Tigers' four-game series against the Chicago White Sox next week.

Tigers Injury Update: Alex Cobb set to begin rehab assignment Thursday

One of the Tigers' major offseason free agent signings is also making progress toward his season debut, as Chris McCosky of the Detroit News reported right-handed pitcher Alex Cobb is set to begin a rehab assignment with High-A West Michigan on Thursday.

Cobb, who signed a one-year, $15 million contract with the Tigers in December and was expected to be part of their Opening Day rotation, has been sidelined since February with hip inflammation. The 37-year-old threw a bullpen session on Monday and will likely require several rehab starts in the minors to ramp up before he is ready for Major League game action.

Given that he hasn't yet pitched in a game at any level this year, Cobb is not expected to make his season debut for the Tigers until late June at the earliest. Some might say that $15 million could've been spent better, but thankfully the Tigers' pitching staff has made everybody forget about the early issues Cobb's absence may have caused.

More Tigers content from Motor City Bengals