Gage Workman Selected as Tigers Add Triple-A Infielder
gage workman is headed to Detroit for his first chance in a Tigers uniform after the club selected his contract from Triple-A on April 9, 2026. The move came after Kerry Carpenter went on the 10-day injured list with a left AC joint sprain, giving the Tigers a ready infielder while their roster keeps thinning under injuries.
Carpenter leaves after the Royals game
Carpenter was removed early from the Tigers' 5-1 loss to the Royals after he ran into the wall while chasing a Bobby Witt Jr. grounder in right field. He stayed in long enough to single in his only plate appearance, then came out before the bottom of the third after the play that turned into an inside-the-park home run.
The outfielder had been batting.216/.299/.451 with six home runs over 117 plate appearances. His 105 wRC+ shows the bat was still playable, but the 34.2% strikeout rate left room for a move once the injury hit. Carpenter is the 15th player on Detroit's injured list.
Workman adds roster flexibility
Workman gives Detroit a different kind of cover. He has mostly played shortstop and third base, and he has also seen time at second base and in all three outfield spots, so the Tigers can use him in more than one place while they sort through the latest injury hit.
The 4th-round pick from the 2020 draft has already traveled a long way to get back here. The Cubs selected him in the 2024 Rule 5 Draft, the White Sox designated him for assignment, and he was returned to Detroit last May. Now the Tigers have brought him back after a.358/.413/.590 start over his first 150 plate appearances in the 2026 Triple-A season with Toledo.
Verlander move clears room
Detroit had to make a 40-man roster move to fit Workman in, and it did so by shifting Justin Verlander from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. Verlander went on the 15-day injured list on April 1, and he threw 38 pitches in a live batting-practice session yesterday, but he cannot return to the rotation before May 31.
That leaves Workman lined up for a first big league appearance in a Tigers uniform, while the roster around him keeps changing around injury absences. For Detroit, the immediate task is patching the active roster with a player who can cover multiple spots and carry over the production he showed in Toledo.
