Cabrera Could Join Elite Group
August 28th, 2009 Posted in 2009 Season, Dean Palmer, Miguel CabreraIt’s no secret that Miguel Cabrera has been an absolute monster since the All-Star break. He’s doing this season and he did it last season. Cabrera turned it on late last season to win the AL home run title in his first season in Detroit. While he probably won’t win the HR title this season, if he keeps this up, he’ll join a pretty elite group of Tigers.
According to ESPN.com, Cabrera is on pace for 35 HR and over 100 RBI. However, the way he’s swinging the bat right now, he should pass both of those benchmarks with relative ease. Those totals are both very impressive. However, players like Dean Palmer have done that for the Tigers and guys like Morgan Ensberg and Richie Sexson have done it in the past five years. So yeah, 35/100 is pretty great, but when you add a .340 batting average to the equation, you really start to thin out the list.
Only two Tigers have ever had that high of a batting average to go with those lofty power numbers: Norm Cash (1961) and Hank Greenberg (1940). Pretty impressive company. Those benchmarks have been met only twice since 2004 and that was by Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday.
The Tigers may need Cabrera to reach those marks if they want to hold off the White Sox and the Twins for the AL Central title. Either way, Cabrera appears to be getting better and better.
One Response to “Cabrera Could Join Elite Group”
By John Parent on Aug 28, 2009
No matter how good Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin ever become, and even factoring in having to take Dontrelle Willis, the Cabrera trade will always be a great trade for the Tigers. He hasn’t even hit his prime yet.