Father Time comes for every athlete, and it may just be starting to leave its mark on Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera.
Cabrera left the team’s game Monday with lower back tightness, which also led him to sit out on Tuesday. Cabrera has been coping with the back problems all season long, and manager Brad Ausmus fears that the issue may be chronic.
“It’s something he may have to deal with the remainder of his career,” Ausmus said Tuesday, via Lynn Henning of the Detroit News. “Probably, it’ll come and go. What you don’t want to do is make yourself worse, or create a bad habit that impacts performance or creates another problem.”
The Tigers will look at all options available to them in the offseason, but for now, rest is not necessarily recommended, as it may not provide much relief for Cabrera.
Cabrera has been clear that he would prefer to play through whatever is bothering him if at all possible. He has, though his numbers are in clear decline, hitting just .253 with only 14 home runs.
Major League Baseball has handed down punishment for Thursday’s Tigers-Yankees brawl.
Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera, the primary instigator, received a seven-game suspension, while Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez, who needlessly got involved with several sucker punches, will miss four games.
Miguel Cabrera suspended 7 games, Gary Sanchez 4, Alex Wilson 4, Austin Romine 2, Brad Ausmus 1.
Notably, Yankees reliever Tommy Kahnle, who was ejected for throwing behind Cabrera just before the brawl, receives no suspension. Neither does teammate Dellin Betances, who hit Tigers catcher James McCann in the head with a fastball, which the league likely deemed unintentional.
Things got pretty ugly quite quickly during Thursday’s brawl. It’s no surprise that the league came down hard on the perpetrators.
Miguel Cabrera and Austin Romine got into a major fight that resulted in a bench-clearing incident between the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers on Thursday.
Tensions began brewing earlier in the game after Tigers pitcher Michael Fulmer hit Gary Sanchez with a pitch in the fifth following Sanchez’s fourth home run of the three-game series. The next inning, Yankees reliever Tommy Kahnle threw behind Cabrera in the first pitch of the slugger’s at-bat. Kahnle was immediately ejected, while a protesting Joe Girardi was also tossed.
The Yankees brought Aroldis Chapman in to face Cabrera, who responded by getting into it with Romine. Cabrera threw some punches at the Yankees catcher, who took Cabrera to the ground. Many other players from both sides joined in.
Both Cabrera and Romine were ejected from the game. Yankees reliever Dellin Betances was ejected an inning later for hitting James McCann with a pitch. Things continued when David Robertson hit Tigers first baseman John Hicks.
Later in the game, Detroit’s Alex Wilson was ejected for hitting Todd Frazier. Tigers manager Brad Ausmus was ejected in the aftermath.
Miguel Cabrera opened up on Tuesday about some of the serious issues that are going on in his native country of Venezuela, and the Detroit Tigers star says he fears for the safety of his family because of them.
In a series of videos he shared on Instagram, Cabrera blasted the Venezuelan government and said he has been threatened for trying to bring about change. Cabrera spoke in Spanish in the videos, but a translator transcribed the videos in English for the Detroit Free Press.
“I am tired of hearing that they are going to kidnap my mother, and I don’t know whether it is a policeman or a bad guy, I don’t know who they are,” Cabrera said. “All I know is if I don’t pay, those people disappear.
“I am only going to tell you one thing. The first advice I was given was not to get involved in politics and I never have. But right now we have to get involved, because they have kidnapped our country.”
Cabrera has spoken in the past about the economic crisis in Venezuela and expressed sympathy for those who have been affected by it. He also said people have threatened to kill him if he returns to his native land.
“They are telling me I am a pain in the a–,” Cabrera said. “I am out here fighting for my people. You might say, ‘Oh he is out here living the good life, while we are out here suffering in Venezuela.’ Like I was told by the chavistas, ‘If you come to Venezuela we will break you, we will kill you.’
“The only thing I will tell you is please, do not hurt my family. I am begging you.”
Cabrera offered support for those who have been part of the “resistance” in Venezuela. He said back in June that he has not been able to travel to Venezuela to organize charity events or visit his family because of all of the unrest.
As Tresa Baldas of the Free Press notes, at least 75 people have been killed in Venezuela over the past three months while protesting president Nicolas Maduro’s socialist government.
We’ve grown used to seeing Cabrera as a fun-loving guy who has hilarious interactions with fans, but he obviously has some serious personal problems going on. Here’s hoping his family remains safe.
Miguel Cabrera found himself within an arm’s length of a bearded fan on Wednesday night, and the All-Star first baseman simply couldn’t resist giving the mane a stroke.
During the Seattle Mariners’ 7-5 win over the Detroit Tigers, a foul ball made its way into the stands down the first base line. When a fan turned to look for it, he was surprised to feel Cabrera’s glove tickling his beard.
Miggy is the best. This happened at Safeco when a foul ball went out of reach. Hilarious. pic.twitter.com/HqiHElNmc6
I don’t know what’s more bold — Cabrera tickling a fan’s facial hair or that time Prince Fielder stole a nacho while chasing down a foul ball. We’ll stick with the latter.
Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera is dealing with a whole host of injuries, but isn’t going to let that keep him off the field.
Cabrera admitted Thursday that he is coping with back, oblique, and groin strains, and picked up a hip flexor problem during Thursday night’s win over the Tampa Bay Rays. Despite all that, he managed a walkoff opposite field home run, his first since May 20.
Despite all that, the Tigers are not getting him off the field.
“No, no, no,” Cabrera said, via ESPN. “I played with a broken foot. If I’m able to go out there and do my job, I’m going to do it.”
Cabrera has not looked himself for much of the season, hitting .280 with just six home runs and the lowest slugging percentage of his career. So many injuries would explain that. With an aging team and another star quite possibly in his final season with the Tigers, though, there’s a lot at stake — this might be the group’s last shot at contention together, and at 31-34, the Tigers will have to show more ahead of the trade deadline if they want to stay together.
Miguel Cabrera and Sam Dyson were at odds on Sunday night over some sign stealing accusations.
The Detroit Tigers slugger was on second base after doubling in the bottom of the seventh with one out. While on second, Miggy seemed to motion about Dyson throwing a changeup. Here is a video:
What everyone on TV seemed to miss with Miggy & Dyson. Dyson seeing Miggy give the change-up sign to Martinez…twice. Dyson was justified. pic.twitter.com/dRsCZRIZyW
After the game, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus called the whole thing a “misunderstanding” and said that Cabrera was gesturing to Detroit’s bench, not J.D. Martinez, who was up at the plate.
Tigers manager Brad Ausmus: Jawing between Miguel Cabrera & Texas RP Sam Dyson was "a misunderstanding," says Miggy was not stealing signs. pic.twitter.com/cWlZkj30DY
Who knows what was really going on? But when you’ve had as rough of a season as Dyson has, it’s understandable why you would be sensitive and very defensive about matters.
Encarnacion is the easier proposition. He’s going to be a free agent, so the only thing Houston will have to commit with regards to him is the money.
Cabrera, however, is intriguing. The Detroit Tigers have indicated they are willing to consider offers for pretty much anyone, even their star first baseman. Cabrera could veto any trade, but he’d be an enormous get for Houston. That said, he would probably come with a hefty price tag in terms of players going the other way.
Catching someone sleeping on a pickoff play is usually a good thing. It’s not so good when the guy who’s sleeping is on defense. But that’s what happened with Miguel Cabrera.
During the first inning of Tuesday’s Cubs-Tigers game, Detroit starter Anibal Sanchez threw over to first base in an attempt to pick off Dexter Fowler. Miggy was holding his glove in his throwing hand at the time Sanchez made the throw, so he was unprepared as the ball arrived. It went past him, off the wall, and Cabrera picked it up and threw to second to get Fowler advancing.
The Cubs actually blew a chance to appeal the play. Since Cabrera had the glove on his wrong hand, he actually threw it at the ball to try stopping it. That is against the rules, and Fowler should have been awarded a few bases. However, the Cubs missed that and did not appeal, so they ended up with a player erased from the bases all because Miggy didn’t have his glove on. That cost them a run considering Chris Coghlan later hit a home run that would have been a 3-run shot but instead was a two-run bomb.
A young Cleveland Indians fan spent a large portion of Tuesday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers heckling Miguel Cabrera, and it was probably one of the best decisions he has ever made in his life.
The fan, whose name is Dom, made a nice play to snag a foul ball in the fifth inning. He then immediately started getting on Cabrera, telling the All-Star first baseman to look alive because he seemed “bored.”
“I just tell Miggy, ‘I got your back,” Dom explained. “That’s what I’ve been telling him. He was bored. He looked bored out there.”
Rather than tell the kid to quiet down or have ballpark security speak to him, Cabrera rewarded Dom by bringing him a bat and a pair of batting gloves the next inning.
“He said, ‘Hold on, you just wait there,'” Dom said. “At first I thought he was just telling me back away, stop talking, lay it off a little bit. Then I see him bring down this bat and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ I was shocked.”
That is the definition of killing a person with kindness.
While Dom remains an Indians fan, he admitted that he now thinks highly of Cabrera. After an awesome gesture like that, who wouldn’t? Bravo, Miggy.
