Detroit Tigers: Miguel Cabrera Expected to Return Friday Night
By Matt Snyder
Miguel Cabrera, who has been out of action since the July 4 weekend with a calf strain, ran the bases and took ground balls before Wednesday’s game in Kansas City. Reports of the event are positive, and the Detroit Tigers are saying he could be activated for Friday’s series opener with the Houston Astros.
"“He said he feels good today after the running yesterday,” Ausmus said before tonight’s game. “We’ll have him run again today. He’s got the off day tomorrow. There’s a possibility that he will be ready Friday.”"
Cabrera’s return would seemingly make Jefry Marte‘s position on the roster superfluous, but the Tigers are going to take a cautious approach to Cabrera’s return. In an ideal world Victor Martinez would be able to handle some first base duties to afford Cabrera the ability to serve as the designated hitter from time to time, but Brad Ausmus appears hesitant to do that.
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Marte has been hitting the ball well in his limited playing time with the Tigers, batting for a .271/.340/.542 line (though more than 55% of his plate appearances have come with the benefit of the platoon advantage), so the Tigers may elect to keep him on the roster to help fill the gaps at first base until Cabrera is full-go.
As Anthony Fenech points out in the article linked above, the Tigers have been carrying an extra reliever and could very well elect to send down a pitcher to open up the roster spot.
The Tigers are still hanging around the Wild Card race at 4.5 games back. It still doesn’t appear likely that they’ll end up making the playoffs (there are five teams between them and a postseason berth), but adding one of the game’s best hitters back into the lineup surely won’t hurt their cause.
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