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On Friday at U.S. Cellular Field, Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer looked over his right shoulder in the first inning of his team’s game against the Chicago White Sox and stared down one of MLB’s best pitchers, lefty Chris Sale.

Hosmer won the battle. Kansas City’s left-handed slugger homered to left field.

Then, in the top of the fourth inning, he faced Sale again. Same result: an opposite-field homer that seemed to erase any doubts that Hosmer has solidified his standing as one of the game’s elite hitters.

The first of those home runs, by the way, marked only the fourth time a left-handed hitter had gone yard off Sale in the pitcher’s seven-year career. Hosmer was only the second lefty to hit two in a game off Sale.

So, it appears Sale is the American League’s litmus test for left-handed power hitters—if not every hitter—and it’s safe to say Hosmer passed the test. 

The 26-year-old is enjoying the best season of his career, hitting .317/.374/.525 through Tuesday’s games. All are career highs for the three-time reigning AL Gold Glove winner.

Credit Hosmer’s approach for his rise to elite status.

He has always been able to spray to all sides of the field. But this year, Hosmer has been hitting more balls the opposite way. According to FanGraphs, through Tuesday, Hosmer was pulling the ball 35.6 percent of the time, hitting to center at a rate of 27.8 percent and going opposite field on 36.6 percent of batted balls.

Previously, the highest frequency at which Hosmer went the other way was 31.4 percent in 2013.

“With lefties, that’s my approach,” Hosmer said. “I try [to] keep that front shoulder in and try to shoot it, and if it happens to be a breaking ball, that could help me stay on it a little better. So yeah, against lefties, that’s definitely the approach is try to look that way.”

Hosmer is having his George Clooney moment in 2016.

When Clooney starred on network TV, playing Dr. Doug Ross on ER, his talent went unheralded. Then, he left the show to do studio pictures and started making big bucks. His flair was finally recognized.

Playing in small-market Kansas City is to baseball what network television is to acting. Sure, you’re getting exposure, but not nearly as much as an actor in a studio picture or a baseball player in a larger market.

But after the Royals won the World Series last year, they earned more attention. Kansas City became a little more Hollywood with Hosmer as its star.

Now, the baseball world is captivated—or at least it should be—by the first baseman’s performance. And Hosmer’s numbers this season have helped his ascension to the short list of first basemen any team would want.

Hosmer’s batting average and slugging percentage rank tops among players at his position. Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who won the Triple Crown in 2012 and is a two-time AL MVP, is second in both categories. But at 33, Cabrera’s reign as the game’s top first baseman is nearing an end. Hosmer is the heir apparent.

As of Tuesday, only three first baseman were hitting above .300, including Cabrera (.305) and the San Francisco Giants’ Brandon Belt (.301).

“He’s been able to do it,” Royals manager Ned Yost said of Hosmer’s ability to hit to all fields. “That’s always been his strength. His ability to pull the ball now has probably been more of a product of the higher batting average—having a smarter, better plan when he steps into the batter’s box—and having the ability to go out and try to accomplish it. He’s just becoming a smarter, more experienced hitter.”

It’s no secret the rules of baseball are rigged like a casino game.

Baseball is designed so pitchers win the majority of matchups with hitters. In fact, the best hitters in MLB are less likely to get a hit than anyone is to win a hand of blackjack.

That’s not to encourage you to rush to Las Vegas and put it to the test.

It’s only to say that the compliment Royals second baseman/outfielder Whit Merrifield gave Hosmer is the highest any hitter can receive.

“It’s not surprising, but it’s very impressive,” Merrifield said of Hosmer’s season. “He’s got unbelievable power. When you put that with a great approach, it’s hard to stop him, and, really, when he makes outs, it’s because he gets himself out. Very rarely does a pitcher get him out, which is a huge compliment to him and the approach he has and the abilities he has. He’s done some great things this year.”

So, while hitters are traditionally the ones tested in matchups between great hurlers and batters, Hosmer is an exception.

The White Sox and the Royals play each other six more times this season. Hosmer and Sale are likely to face each other again.

But next time, it will be Hosmer administering the test.

Seth Gruen is a national baseball columnist for Bleacher Report. Talk baseball with Seth by following him on Twitter @SethGruen.

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The deal the New York Mets and Detroit Tigers struck last July will always be known as the Yoenis Cespedes trade, and for good reason.

Cespedes, after all, went on a Ruthian tear after heading from the Motor City to Queens, helping the Mets reach the postseason and win the National League pennant.

Cespedes had such a good time in a Mets uniform, in fact, that he re-upped with the team this winter and is raking again, despite a recent slump.

There were other players involved in that trade, however. And lately, rookie right-hander Michael Fulmer has been making it look like a win-win swap.

The 2011 first-round pick, who the Mets sent to Detroit along with Luis Cessa, is making quite the impression in his first season with the Tigers.

With six shutout innings in Sunday’s 4-1 win over the New York Yankees, Fulmer extended his scoreless innings streak to 28.1 innings, the second-longest by a rookie in franchise history, per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. 

And he joined some elite historical company, per Baseball Tonight:

Fulmer is now 7-1 on the season with a 2.52 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 53.2 innings.

He sits in the mid-90s with his fastball, though he can touch the high 90s. And he complements that with a hard, biting slider and a changeup that he refined after some early-season struggles.

Four starts into the season, Fulmer’s ERA sat at an unsightly 6.52. So he extended his between-starts bullpen session by roughly 20 pitches to work on his changeup, per Chris McCosky of the Detroit News. 

Since then, he’s allowed a single earned run in five starts and shaved four points off his ERA.

“You’ve got to give him credit,” catcher James McCann said, per McCosky. “That pitch is mostly for his future, giving him a third pitch. He can’t survive on a fastball and slider. Players will make an adjustment. This is a third dimension to his repertoire.”

Indeed, entering Sunday’s start, opposing batters were hitting just .190 against Fulmer’s changeup.

Early on, as Sports Illustrated‘s Kenny Ducey noted, Fulmer “was plagued by hard-hit flyballs—which have never gone to benefit a major-league pitcher. His flyball rate hasn’t really plummeted since then, but his hard-hit rate has, and his ground ball rate has risen. Fewer home runs and more ground balls make for a happy pitcher.”

Jordan Zimmermann has been solid in his first season since inking a five-year, $110 million contract with Detroit, posting a 3.30 ERA through 11 starts. And Justin Verlander has strung together a nice stretch after watching his ERA balloon to 6.49 on May 3, lowering that number to 3.77 while fanning 90 in 86 innings.

No other Detroit starter, however, owns an ERA below 4.00. It’s too early to anoint Fulmer the ace, but it’s not too early to ask where the Tigers—who sit three games out in the American League Central at 32-30—would be without him.

Speaking of Verlander, Fulmer recently drew a favorable comparison to the former AL Cy Young Award-winner and MVP.

“He’s a go-after guy,” former Detroit hurler Joel Zumaya said, per Jeff Seidel of the Detroit Free Press. “He shows no emotion. His emotion is: OK, I’m going to eat you and I’m going to get you. He goes right after guys. I was that type of guy, Verlander is that type of guy.”

We’re talking about a 23-year-old kid after only a handful of starts, so this is where we temper the enthusiasm a tad. Zumaya himself is an example of how even the most promising careers can fizzle.

Still, Fulmer undoubtedly has the Tigers excited. While there are surely fans in Detroit who sigh wistfully whenever Cespedes goes on one of his patented power binges, Fulmer is helping to balance the ledger.

If he keeps going like he has been, someday we might even look back and proclaim the Tigers won the trade outright. Cespedes, remember, is almost certainly going to opt out of his deal after this season and command huge money in a weak free-agent class, whereas Fulmer is under club control for years to come. 

Yes, again, it’s a small sample size. There will be bumps and course corrections, as there always are.

But any time a player who’s helping your team win now also looks like an important piece of the future, you’re permitted to smile.

The more zeroes Fulmer tosses up, the bigger those grins will get.

All statistics current as of June 12 and courtesy of MLB.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.

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Cleveland Indians third baseman Juan Uribe left Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels after being hit by a hard ground ball off the bat of Mike Trout. It is uncertain when he will be able to return.

Continue for updates.

Uribe Out vs. Royals

Monday, June 13

The team announced that Uribe will not play on Monday against the Kansas City Royals:

Uribe Taken Off on Cart

Sunday, June 12 

Alex Curry of Fox Sports Net said the 106 mph ground ball from Trout hit Uribe in the groin, which resulted in his removal on a cart.

Uribe was 0-for-2 at the plate before he was taken out of the game for Tyler Naquin. Naquin went to center field, while Michael Martinez moved from center to third base to fill in for Uribe.

Uribe’s Absence Will Be Strongly Felt in the Field

Uribe, 37, has been in the league since 2001 and is batting .217 with two home runs and 13 RBI this year entering Monday’s slate of games. He played for the Colorado Rockies, Chicago White Sox, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves and New York Mets before signing with the Indians during the offseason.

He appeared for Los Angeles, Atlanta and New York last season and was with the Mets when they made the World Series, where they lost to the Kansas City Royals.

He is solid with the bat (.255/.302/.418 career slash numbers as of Monday) but is better known for his fielding at the hot corner. He’s accounted for 42 total defensive runs saved above average in his career at third base, per FanGraphs.

The Indians will likely turn to Martinez or Jose Ramirez at third base until Uribe is ready to return.

Martinez is only a .193 career hitter, but he does carry a .256 mark in 39 at-bats this season. Ramirez has been impressive for Cleveland in 2016 with a .303 batting average.

Both are versatile enough to play the infield or outfield, which gives manager Terry Francona options with his daily lineup even if Uribe misses time.

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Things continue to get worse for the Minnesota Twins, who will be without starting pitcher Phil Hughes due to a knee injury. 

Continue for updates. 

Hughes to DL

Saturday, June 11

Per Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press, Hughes will be out for six to eight weeks with a fracture just above his left knee. 

Berardino added that Hughes will be on crutches while waiting for the fracture to heal, and a “September return” would be “almost” a best-case scenario.   

Hughes was injured during Minnesota’s 10-3 loss against the Miami Marlins after taking a line-drive hit by J.T. Realmuto off his knee in the ninth inning. 

Friday was a hard day for Twins pitchers because Hughes and Trevor May were both placed on the disabled list, per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. 

This has been a horrible season for the Twins and for Hughes. The Twins are tied with the Atlanta Braves for the worst record in Major League Baseball (18-42). Meanwhile, Hughes has a 1-7 record with an ERA of 5.95, 76 hits allowed, 34 strikeouts and 11 home runs allowed in 59 innings. 

Even though Hughes had the highest ERA among Minnesota starters, Ricky Nolasco, Tyler Duffey and Tommy Milone all have marks above 5.00. Pat Dean has the lowest ERA among Twins starting pitchers with at least four starts (4.75). 

It’s been hard to find anything positive about the Twins so far in 2016. Joe Mauer is hitting well, but that’s where the good vibes stop. 

Hughes’ absence only compounds problems for the Twins, who have already been forced to use nine different starting pitchers through 60 games. This will be a summer of heavy evaluation in Minnesota to determine which players will be around for the future.  

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Player: Zack Collins

Position: C

DOB: Feb. 6, 1995 (21 years old)

Height/Weight: 6’3″, 220 lbs

Bats/Throws: L/R

School: Miami

Previously Drafted: 2013 (27th Round, CIN)

Background

College catchers tend to sneak up draft boards when June rolls around, as teams are always looking for more catching depth, and high school catchers are arguably the toughest players of all to project.

There are still some questions whether he will in fact stick behind the dish long-term, but with a monster season offensively, Zack Collins his seen his stock trending up all spring.

Ranked as the No. 113 prospect in the 2013 draft by Baseball America, Collins slipped to the 27th round with a strong commitment to the University of Miami.

He made his presence felt immediately for the Hurricanes, winning Freshman of the Year honors with a .298/.427/.556 line that included 14 doubles, 11 home runs and 54 RBI.

That huge first season earned him a spot in the collegiate national team and quickly put him on the 2016 draft radar.

While questions about his defense remained, his stock continued to rise as a sophomore when he hit .302/.445/.587 with 14 doubles, 15 home runs and 70 RBI.

More accolades followed, as he was named to the All-American Third Team by Rawlings and All-ACC First Team, and he entered his junior campaign as a potential first-round pick, even if he was forced to move out from behind the plate.

He’s still not a plus defender by any means, but he’s shown enough improvement this spring to lead some to believe he can in fact catch at the highest level, which has obviously boosted his stock even further.

At the end of the day, though, it’s still his bat that will carry him, and it’s been an awfully loud bat in 2016.

Collins is currently hitting .358/.534/.631 with nine doubles, 13 home runs and 53 RBI. He’s also lowered his strikeout rate from 20.6 percent to 19.1 percent, while raising his walk rate from 18.4 percent to 27.5 percent. That’s the kind of improvement scouts love to see.

Pick Analysis

With a .534 on-base percentage that ranks fourth in the nation and plenty of home run pop, Collins is the rare catching prospect who is legitimately among the top bats in the country, not just a plus bat for his position.

Baseball America provided the following scouting report:

Collins has plus power, and does a good job of getting to it in game action. He has excellent plate discipline, working counts and waiting for pitches that he can drive. He has walked twice as often as he has struck out this spring.

Coming into the year, many doubted Collins’ ability to stay behind the plate as a professional. But he has shown marked improvement this spring. While it’s unlikely he’ll ever be an above-average defender, he has enough catch-and-throw skills to give him a chance to catch as a professional.

That bat will play wherever he winds up playing in the field, and it’s the decision about his defense that will ultimately decide how quickly he arrives on the scene in the majors.

Pro Comparison: Mike Napoli

Some believe Collins is capable of making a Kyle Schwarber-type impact with a quick ascent through the minors and an immediate MLB impact with his bat.

However, he doesn’t quite have the same raw power that Schwarber possesses, and if his future is in fact behind the plate, a more traditional path through the minors to further develop his skills will be in his best interest.

Instead, a better comparison might be a left-handed-hitting version of Mike Napoli.

Napoli was never a standout defender behind the plate and has since moved to first base, but back in his catching days with the Angels and Rangers, he was one of the premier offensive players at the position.

The slugger recorded six straight seasons with at least 20 home runs during his peak, including a 30-homer season in 2011 that was accompanied by a huge .320/.414/.631 line.

That batting average proved to be an aberration, but Napoli has always displayed plus on-base skills with a .353 career on-base percentage that is 100 points higher than his .253 career average.

Collins has all the tools to develop into a passable defensive catcher who regularly slugs 20-plus home runs with an on-base percentage north of .350. That would make him one of the elite offensive players at a premium position.

Projection: Starting catcher with a bat that would play at first base if needed

Major League ETA: 2019

Chances of Signing: 90 percent

The questions about Collins’ future behind the plate remain a major talking point, and he’d almost certainly improve his receiving skills with a return to Miami for his senior season. However, there’s no reason to think he won’t take the money and start refining those skills at the pro level.

College statistics courtesy of The Baseball Cube, unless otherwise noted, and accurate through Wednesday, June 8.

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Mother Nature interrupted Sunday’s game between the Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals in the sixth inning. The clouds opened, the tarps came out and the two American League Central foes endured a three-hour-plus delay.

These days, however, nothing can rain on the Indians’ parade.

The Tribe tacked on a pair of runs after play resumed and cruised to a 7-0 victory at Progressive Field, completing a four-game sweep of Kansas City. With that, Cleveland moved to 31-24 and edged 1.5 games ahead of the Royals for division supremacy.

Ladies and gentlemen, your first-place Indians. 

The Indians have been a trendy pick as far back as March 2015, when Sports Illustrated tapped them as World Series winners. Instead, they finished 81-80, 13.5 games out of first.

Still, multiple projection systems fired up the hype machine and again tapped them as division favorites this year, as Rob Rogacki of SB Nation’s Bless You Boys noted in April. 

It’s only June, but the Indians finally appear to be living up to the advanced billing. At the least, their sweep of the defending champs makes a loud, definitive statement in the balanced, crowded Central.

Kansas City sailed into the series with a headwind of its own, having won six straight. 

Cleveland, however, outscored the Royals 25-6 in the four contests. Sunday was the punctuation mark, as ace Corey Kluber and the bullpen collaborated on a three-hit shoutout and Mike Napoli, Tyler Naquin, Carlos Santana and Francisco Lindor all went deep.

The Indians now own the third-best run differential in the AL at plus-46. And they’re an impressive 18-7 against AL Central foes after going 32-43 against division opponents in 2015.

That’s especially important in a race that figures to be a dogfight to the end. The Royals aren’t going anywhere, as they showed with their recent surge. The Detroit Tigers have enough firepower to stay in the hunt. And the Chicago White Sox are intent on contention, which they displayed by acquiring veteran right-hander James Shields from the San Diego Padres on Saturday. 

Right now, though, the Indians look like the favorites. Baseball Prospectus foretells a first-place finish for Cleveland, as does FanGraphs, so the computers still like them.

ESPN The Magazine‘s Buster Olney placed them fifth in his power rankings before Sunday’s sweep-sealing win, ahead of legit Fall Classic hopefuls such as the Washington Nationals and New York Mets:

The Indians currently sit in the top third in baseball in team ERA and runs scored. Their starting pitchers are second in the AL in strikeouts, and that’s with right-hander Carlos Carrasco missing more than a month with a hamstring injury.

Carrasco returned June 2 and went five innings in a win over Kansas City. He rejoins a rotation headlined by Kluber—the 2014 AL Cy Young Award winner—and Danny Salazar, who owns a 2.24 ERA and has fanned 81 in 68.1 innings. 

On offense, Cleveland has been without former All-Star outfielder Michael Brantley, who underwent offseason shoulder surgery and suffered a setback in May that landed him on the disabled list again.

On Friday, manager Terry Francona said Brantley is “a ways away” from returning, per Chris Assenheimer of the Chronicle-Telegram. Assuming he does come back healthy, he’ll bolster the lineup significantly.

But it’s not as though Cleveland is hapless with the lumber. 

Lindor, the 2015 AL Rookie of the Year runner-up, has complemented his slick fielding at shortstop with a .313/.367/.456 slash line, while Napoli leads the team with 14 homers and 42 RBI after signing a one-year, $7 million deal with Cleveland this winter.

Adding another hitter at the deadline might be prudent, especially if Brantley doesn’t return to form. Oakland A’s outfielder Josh Reddick, currently on the shelf with a thumb injury, is one intriguing option.

That’s talk for another day, though. Cleveland, at last, is clicking.

“We’ve turned the corner,” second baseman Jason Kipnis said after the Indians picked up a second consecutive walk-off victory on Thursday, per Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com. “Guys are involved. Guys are interested, not like we weren’t before, but anytime you win two in a row with a walk-off you’ve got guys feeling good. They’re showing up at the ballpark with smiles on their faces.”

Cleveland fans should be smiling too. After wallowing in fizzled hype and dashed expectations, these Indians are making a move.

And right now, not even Mother Nature can stand in their way.

All statistics current as of June 5 and courtesy of MLB.com and Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted. 

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With a 12-18 record since the calendar turned to May, the Chicago White Sox are in need of answers.

What they’ve found instead is James Shields.

A trade sending the veteran right-hander from the San Diego Padres to the south side of Chicago that had been circling the rumor mill has come to fruition. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman was first to report Saturday on an agreement that is now a done deal:

“We’re pleased to add a starter of James Shields’ caliber to our starting rotation,” White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said, per Scott Merkin of MLB.com. “We believe this move makes the entire pitching staff stronger, and the club certainly benefits from his addition, in terms of pitching depth and quality.”

There’s still the question of how the two clubs are splitting the remainder of Shields’ big-money contract. Although nothing is official yet, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports the Padres and White Sox are basically splitting it down the middle:

Without even a hint of doubt, the biggest winner of this deal is Shields. At 29-26 coming into Saturday, the White Sox are still contenders in the AL Central even despite their recent struggles. In joining them, Shields is escaping a Padres team headed by a guy who just threw him under the bus.

“To have a starter like Shields perform as poorly as he did yesterday is an embarrassment to the team, an embarrassment to him,” Padres chairman Ron Fowler said in a radio interview after the Seattle Mariners shelled Shields for 10 earned runs Tuesday, per Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.

Fowler also referred to his whole team as “miserable failures.” At 22-34 and in last place in the NL West, he at least has that part right.

For their part, the fact they’re keeping shortstop Tim Anderson, right-hander Carson Fulmer and their other top prospects while only paying half of Shields’ remaining contract means the White Sox aren’t risking much in this deal. Which is a good thing, because the pitcher they’re getting is clearly past his prime.

With a 3.76 career ERA and nine straight 200-inning seasons under his belt, Shields still boasts impressive credentials. But the 34-year-old hit a snag with a 3.91 ERA in his first season in San Diego last year, and he is working on a 4.28 ERA through 11 starts this season.

His bomb against the Mariners didn’t help, of course. Before that, his ERA was a respectable 3.06. As Rosenthal noted, Shields was doing things to earn that.

“His ground-ball percentage is the 38th-highest out of the 103 pitchers who have thrown a minimum of one inning per team game, according to STATS LLC,” Rosenthal wrote. “His home run rate, tied for the 47th-lowest, is also better than league average.”

These were facts, and they allow for a bit of optimism about how Shields will fit in Chicago. A high ground-ball rate and a low home run rate are good things that become even better things with a good defense. Per Baseball Prospectus, the difference between the Padres and White Sox is that of a bottom-11 defense and a top-eight defense.

However, Shields’ shellacking at the hands bats of the Mariners was probably inevitable. His ratio of 2.43 strikeouts to one walk through 10 starts was a bit worse than the league average for starting pitchers in 2016. He also wasn’t especially good at inducing soft contact or limiting hard contact on balls in play:

• Shields’ First 10 GS: 15.8 Soft%, 31.0 Hard%
• 2016 MLB Starters: 19.0 Soft%, 30.9 Hard%

The two homers Shields surrendered against the Mariners upped his home run rate over the last two seasons to 1.4 per nine innings. That’s worse than the two-year average of 1.1 for starting pitchers. As Eno Sarris of FanGraphs quipped, that doesn’t bode well for a guy who is about to move from roomy Petco Park to less roomy U.S. Cellular Field:

White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper is one of the best in the business, but it won’t be easy to solve this problem.

It’s no secret that Shields’ velocity has come back down to earth after peaking between 2012 and 2014. His fastball sat in the 92-93 mph range in those three seasons, and his cutter topped out in the 89-90 mph range. In 2016, his fastball is 90-91, and his cutter is 86-87.

They say velocity isn’t everything, but Shields’ last two seasons prove it helps. As Baseball Savant can vouch, less velocity has meant higher slugging percentages against his heat:

At Shields’ age, it’s pointless to entertain the idea of his velocity being rejuvenated by his move to Chicago. It’s still going to be an Achilles’ heel. And because he’ll now be pitching half his games at U.S. Cellular Field rather than Petco Park, it could hurt him even more.

This is not to say the trade will be a complete waste for the White Sox. Shields should at least be a good innings-eater for them. Considering their bullpen has hit the skids over the last month, they could use a guy like that.

But relative to the White Sox’s biggest needs, that’s not a big fix.

Shields doesn’t figure to be the reliable No. 3 Chicago has been missing behind stud left-handers Chris Sale and Jose Quintana. He’s also not going to solve what’s ailing the offense. The White Sox rank 10th in the American League in runs scored and 14th in OPS. It’s a wonder the White Sox didn’t try to make a move for an impact bat instead of Shields.

With the Minnesota Twins (16-38) far back in the chase and the Detroit Tigers (27-28) still struggling to find their footing, the Shields trade shouldn’t result in the White Sox losing any ground in the AL Central. But with the Kansas City Royals (30-24) and Cleveland Indians (29-24) playing great baseball, it’s unlikely to help them gain ground either.

The White Sox did well to land Shields without risking much. But in this case, that doesn’t entitle them to a reward.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.

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Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera exited Friday’s game against the Chicago White Sox with a back injury. It is unclear when he will be able to return. 

Continue for updates.

Cabrera Listed as Day-to-Day

Friday, June 3

Per the Tigers’ official Twitter account, Cabrera was taken out of the game with lower-back tightness and is officially day-to-day. 

Cabrera headed to the disabled list for the first time in his career in 2015. He played in just 119 games—his fewest since his rookie season in 2003. His performance at the plate didn’t suffer, though, as the two-time MVP led the league with a .338 batting average to go along with 18 home runs, 76 RBI and a .534 slugging percentage.

Still, the timing of Cabrera’s calf problem wasn’t all that great for the Tigers. The massive eight-year extension Cabrera signed with Detroit wasn’t even in effect at that point. The deal began with the start of the 2016 season, and he’s due to earn $248 million through 2023 with $30 million options for 2024 and 2025, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts.

Even when it was signed, the contract looked quizzical at best, and it’s only getting worse with Cabrera starting to look his age (33) and signed for at least the next seven years.

This is also the second time the right-handed slugger went down injured in 2016. He suffered a bruised knee after Tampa Bay Rays reliever Dana Eveland hit him with a pitch on May 22:

It goes without saying the Tigers don’t have a replacement who can deliver anything close to what Cabrera—one of his generation’s best hitters—can at the plate.

Manager Brad Ausmus could potentially move Victor Martinez to first base, but that would leave the team without a designated hitter, forcing one of Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Mike Aviles or Andrew Romine into the lineup.

With the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians setting the pace in the American League Central, the Tigers need Cabrera back as soon as possible to remain in the hunt for the playoffs.

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The Chicago White Sox (29-25) are fighting to get back to the top of the division, winning two in a row heading into Friday’s road matchup with the Detroit Tigers (25-28) following a season-high seven-game losing streak.

Meanwhile, the Tigers will try to move one step closer to the .500 mark when they send Jordan Zimmermann to the hill as minus-140 home betting favorites (bet $140 to win $100) at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.

Zimmermann (7-2, 2.52 ERA) got off to a great start for Detroit, winning his first five starts by posting a stellar 0.55 ERA after inking a five-year, $110 free-agent deal in the offseason. However, he has struggled lately, going 2-2 with a 4.88 ERA in his past four outings and dealing with a groin injury that forced him to miss his last start.

The Tigers have dropped five of six overall following a 5-4 loss to the New York Yankees on Thursday in a makeup game. They will face Chicago for the first time this year after going 10-9 in the 2015 season series, according to the Odds Shark MLB Database, including 6-4 at home.

The over has gone 6-4 in the past 10 meetings at Comerica Park, but the under is 5-1-1 in the last seven between the teams overall.

The way the White Sox have been scoring lately, the total could be headed under here as well. They have averaged 3.3 runs in their last nine games and totaled 17 less than Detroit has scored this year. However, Chicago’s Carlos Rodon (2-4, 4.24) has seen his team average 6.5 runs in the previous four he has started, despite losing three of them.

Still, Rodon walked away with three no-decisions during that stretch and has managed to go 1-2 in his past six outings, even though the Sox have lost five of them.

The 23-year-old southpaw has split his last two starts, both coming against the Kansas City Royals, giving up three runs and 14 hits in 11.2 innings with four walks and seven strikeouts. The over is 3-1 in his last four starts, after the under went 5-0-1 in his first six.

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Minnesota Twins center fielder Danny Santana will be sidelined for the foreseeable future after suffering a left hamstring injury Monday.

Continue for updates.

Twins Calling Up Buxton in Place of Santana

Monday, May 30

Santana is heading to the disabled list, and the Twins are calling up former No. 2 overall pick Byron Buxton to take his place, per Dustin Morse of the Twins’ communications team.

Santana suffered the injury during Monday’s game against the Oakland Athletics, per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. The 25-year-old went 2-for-3 before exiting the contest.

This is the second time this year Santana has landed on the disabled list because of hamstring issues. The team placed him on the 15-day DL on April 10 after he suffered a right hamstring injury.

Santana has improved from his 2015 campaign, during which he batted .215 in 91 games, but he still has plenty of work to do before getting back to his numbers from 2014, when he hit seven home runs while batting .319 in 101 games as a rookie.

The Twins, sitting at 15-35, will miss Santana in the lineup but should hope for the Buxton who has been playing well at Triple-A Rochester. Buxton has batted .333 to go with six homers in 28 games. The talent is there, but it’s up to Buxton to play better at the major league level.

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