Detroit Tigers: Downfall of Miguel Cabrera the Struggling Power Hitter

The Detroit Tigers signed Miguel Cabrera to an eight-year $248 million contract which is really starting to look like the length was a mistake. Cabrera’s production has taken a severe decrease in the recent past, which is going to prove costly if it continues.

In 2016 when the Detroit Tigers wrapped up Miguel Cabrera with this massive contract, it seemed like he was still the most dominant hitter in the game of baseball, pitchers feared him. Cabrera really has declined, injuries have not been in his favor but lately, the injury bug has proven to be fatal. Cabrera’s hitting is still one of the best, but the statistics have shown a bit of a decrease, especially when it comes to his power.

Through 44 games in 2019 Cabrera has only one home run, that should be a big alarm for the Tigers. Our famed “power hitter” who at one time made history for getting the Triple Crown in 2013 has really slowed down. In 2016, the year of his big extension he hit 38 home runs, and since then the home run total has drastically decreased.

In 2017, Cabrera dropped off even more with only 16 home runs, and the injury bug kept him out of a few games towards the end of the year. The injury bug came back and got Cabrera again in the 2018 season where he only played in 38 games hitting three home runs which is only two more than he has this year.

Lacking this much power should be alarming to Cabrera and the Tigers, he is becoming more of a singles hitter which is a handicap when his speed is not precisely that of Rickey Henderson‘s. Cabrera is kind of heading down the path of Victor Martinez, where the Tigers put him in the DH spot when he is healthy enough to hit for him to get on base because the power element is gone.

It’s hard when your power hitter of the ages is falling apart, it happens, age catches up to you, but Cabrera’s issue should be alarming to the Detroit Tigers. Cabrera is going to hit still and hit pretty well, but the power is seemingly fading, and the new wave (Christin Stewart, Dawel Lugo, maybe) should be prepped and ready to make up for the lack in power.

Cabrera is one of the last few pieces remaining from the Tigers team that made runs through the playoffs in the stretch of 2010-2016 with guys like Jordan Zimmermann,  J.D Martinez, Justin Verlander, Rick Porcello, Ian Kinsler, Prince Fielder, David Price, and others. The Tigers are entering a new time; they have a lot of youth coming up to the big leagues and its time for the prospects to prove themselves.