Major League Baseball’s greatest slugger, Miguel Cabrera (40, Detroit), is in his final season. His eight-year, $240 million contract with Detroit ends this year.
He has an option, but it’s unlikely Detroit will exercise it. The player himself has made it clear that this will be his last year. “I’m only going to play until 2023,” he said. At the away stadiums he visits, Cabrera continues to receive memorabilia honoring his achievements. He deserves the respect.
He’s a lock for the Hall of Fame. He played in 2,721 games during his 21-year major league career. He has a career batting average of .307, 3102 hits, 507 home runs, and 1851 RBIs. He is also one of the few players to reach 500 home runs and 3000 RBI. He also has a long list of honors to his name, including back-to-back American League MVP awards in 2012 and 2013.
However, his final season was a disappointment. It was clear that Cabrera was no longer in his prime. His performance continued to decline. To a certain extent, fans have accepted this. But this year’s performance is serious. He’s on the verge of making a mark on his career.
Through 21 games of the season, Cabrera is batting just .182. That includes no home runs. That’s a far cry from the 30+ home runs he used to hit like a champ. His OPS, which is the sum of his slugging percentage and on-base percentage, is just .462.
He’s been plagued by injuries for the last three years, but his batting average over the last three years was .254. He’s a two-for-five hitter at best. This year, however, he’s struggling to break the double digits. Even if you don’t expect him to hit for power, he should be able to maintain a decent batting average. The lowest batting average of Cabrera’s career was .249 in 2017.
His bat has no power. 먹튀검증 Add to that the fact that his feet have slowed down significantly, and you’re looking at a lot of batted balls for outs. His average batted ball speed, which reached 93.8 mph in 2015, has dropped to 88.3 mph this year, a career low.
At Comerica Park, there is a scoreboard to commemorate Cabrera’s hits and home runs. These days, it’s hard to get past one. It will be interesting to see if the slugger can save his last dignity. Currently, Cabrera has a career OPS of 0.905, but it will be interesting to see if he can break the 0.900 barrier.