Detroit Tigers star Miguel Cabrera hasn’t looked like his usual all-world self at the plate in 2014. It appears that the injury concerns surrounding the slugger finally caught up to him Saturday night, as he left the game against the Chicago White Sox in the fourth inning with an apparent ankle injury.
Chris Iott of MLive.com reported the news:
Cabrera was removed from the game Saturday night after trying to beat out a single on a ground ball that deflected off Chicago White Sox pitcher Chris Bassitt in the top of the fourth inning. There was no immediate word from the Tigers regarding why Cabrera left the game, but his right ankle has been bothering him for some time.
His exit from the game might not come as too much of a surprise for most observers. Rotoworld’s Matthew Pouliot noted he looked abysmal at the plate:
Normally one of the league’s best hitters—he led the American League in batting average from 2011 through 2013, all by fairly wide margins—Cabrera has seen both his average and power diminish this year, especially in recent weeks. The nine-time All-Star was hitting just .260 for the month of August, with a paltry .350 slugging percentage, per Baseball-Reference.com.
This may have been due to an overall lack of fitness. Manager Brad Ausmus noted in early August that Cabrera had some “aches and pains,” per MLive.com’s James Schmehl.
The ankle injury could also be a critical blow to the Tigers’ playoff hopes. They are currently 73-61 on the season and just one game back of the Kansas City Royals in the AL Central.
The team made it clear that it has high hopes for the season when it traded for starting pitcher David Price back in July. The left-handed ace and Cabrera are integral to the team’s plans of winning the AL Central and making a deep playoff run.
Should Detroit have to play for an extended period of time with a gaping, Cabrera-sized hole in its lineup, the Royals could pull away down the stretch and leave the Tigers scrambling for a wild-card spot.
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