The Detroit Tigers placed outfielder Kerry Carpenter on the 10-day injured list on Sunday with a left shoulder sprain.
Carpenter was injured crashing into the sidewall in right field on Bobby Witt Jr.’s inside-the-park home run on Saturday night in the host Royals’ 5-1 victory.
In a corresponding move, the Tigers selected the contract of third baseman Gage Workman from Triple-A Toledo. Detroit made room on the 40-man roster by transferring right-hander Justin Verlander (left hip inflammation) from the 15- to 60-day IL. Verlander will be eligible to return on May 31.
Carpenter, 28, stayed in the game after Witt’s first-inning homer before exiting two innings later with the sprained AC joint.
“Initial tests have shown no structural damage, but he has inflammation,” manager A.J. Hinch said Sunday. “And he’s obviously really sore.”
Carpenter is batting .216 with six home runs and 17 RBIs in 37 games this season.
He sustained a right shoulder sprain in 2023 while robbing a batter of a home run.
For his career, Carpenter is a .264 hitter with 76 homers, 210 RBIs, a .299 on-base percentage and .451 slugging percentage in 403 regular-season games since making his major league debut with Detroit in 2022.
He also has hit .275 with three homers and 10 RBIs in 15 playoff games.
“Carp’s injury could be quick,” Hinch said. “It depends on the inflammation and how fast we can get him back to swinging freely. But in the meantime, we’re going to need to pick it up collectively.”
Detroit selected Workman in the fourth round of the 2020 MLB Draft out of Arizona State, where he was a teammate of current Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson. Workman played as a Rule 5 Draft pick in 12 games for the Chicago Cubs (nine) and White Sox (three) in 2025 and batted .188 (3-for-16) before returning to the Tigers.
Workman, 26, is batting .358 at Triple-A Toledo with four homers, 28 RBIs, 15 doubles, a .413 on-base percentage and .590 slugging percentage.
“Gage has been killing it in Triple-A,” Hinch said. “He’s been a candidate this whole time to come up and join us when we’ve had these openings. Some have been short spurts. Gage has kept performing and kept playing.
“He’s made some improvements on defense, on his first step in getting to balls. He has crushed Triple-A pitching pretty much all season and has earned his right to be on a callup list whenever the opportunity came open.”
