Third Baseman, Detroit
Tigers
Age: 30 (April 18)
6th season
with Tigers
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’4” Weight: 250
Prior to 2013:
A native of
Venezuela, Cabrera became a top baseball prospect as a teenager and signed with
the Florida Marlins in 1999 at age 16 for $1.8 million. Initially assigned to
the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League in 2000, he played shortstop and batted .260
over the course of 57 games and finished the season with Utica of the Class A
New York-Pennsylvania League where he appeared in eight games and hit .250. In
2001 Cabrera was assigned to the Kane County Cougars of the Class A Midwest
League where he batted .268 with 19 doubles, 4 triples, 7 home runs, and 66
RBIs and was selected as a league All-Star. Moving on to Jupiter of the
advanced Class A Florida State League in 2002, Cabrera shifted from shortstop
to third base and hit .274 with 43 doubles, 9 home runs, and 75 RBIs and played
in the Radio Shack All-Star Futures Game. Moving up to Carolina of the Class AA
Southern League in 2003, he was batting .365 with 29 doubles, 10 home runs, and
59 RBIs when he was called up to the Marlins in June. He hit a walk-off home
run in his first game and had hits in five of his first six major league games
on his way to hitting .268 with 12 home runs and 62 RBIs while splitting time
between left field and third base. Appearing in both right and left field in
2004, Cabrera was an All-Star for the first time on his way to batting .294
with 33 home runs and 112 RBIs. Not a natural fit in the outfield, he saw
action in 29 games at third base in 2005, while regularly starting in left
field, but his offense remained strong as he hit .323 with 43 doubles, 33 home
runs, and 116 RBIs. Playing third base full-time in 2006, Cabrera contended for
the NL batting title as he hit .339 with 50 doubles, 26 home runs, and 114
RBIs. His 2007 production was .320 with 34 home runs and 119 RBIs. He also had
a fine season defensively at third base. In the offseason the penurious Marlins
traded Cabrera to the Tigers along with LHP Dontrelle Willis as part of a
blockbuster deal. With his new club in 2008, who signed him to an eight-year,
$152.3 million contract, he was moved to first base and, following a slow
start, batted .292 with a league-leading 37 home runs, plus 127 RBIs. In 2009
he hit .324 with 34 home runs and 103 RBIs, but a domestic disturbance late in
the season caused him to undergo treatment for alcohol abuse. The Tigers
collapsed down the stretch to blow a seven-game lead in the AL Central and
missed the postseason. 2010 was another outstanding season for the player
nicknamed “Miggy” as he led the AL in RBIs (126) and OBP (.420) while batting
.328 with 45 doubles, 38 home runs, and a .622 slugging percentage. He finished
second in league MVP voting. In 2011 Cabrera led the league in batting (.344),
OBP (.448), and doubles (48), while also compiling 30 home runs and 105 RBIs.
This time he placed fifth in AL MVP balloting. Coming into the 2012 season
Cabrera was a six-time All-Star who was well-established as one of baseball’s
best hitters and was returning to third base to make room for the
newly-acquired Prince Fielder at first. He proceeded to become the first Triple
Crown winner in either league since 1967 by leading the AL with 44 home runs,
139 RBIs, and a .330 batting average. He also topped the circuit in slugging
(.606) and total bases (377). Detroit topped the AL Central, won the pennant,
but was swept in the World Series by the San Francisco Giants.
2013 Season Summary
Appeared in 148
games
3B – 145, DH – 1,
PH – 1
[Bracketed
numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 652
At Bats – 555
Runs – 103 [2,
tied with Chris Davis]
Hits – 193 [2,
tied with Dustin Pedroia]
Doubles – 26
Triples – 1
Home Runs – 44 [2]
RBI – 137 [2]
Bases on Balls
– 90 [3]
Int. BB – 19 [2]
Strikeouts – 94
Stolen Bases – 3
Caught Stealing
– 0
Average - .348
[1]
OBP - .442 [1]
Slugging Pct. -
.636 [1]
Total Bases – 353
[2]
GDP – 19 [10,
tied with Elvis Andrus & Yunel Escobar]
Hit by Pitches
– 5
Sac Hits – 0
Sac Flies – 2
League-leading
batting average was +.024 ahead of runner-up Joe Mauer
League-leading
OBP was +.010 ahead of runner-up Mike Trout
League-leading
slugging percentage was +.002 ahead of runner-up Chris Davis
Midseason
snapshot: HR - 30, RBI - 95, AVG - .365, SLG - .674, OBP - .458
---
Most hits, game
– 4 on seven occasions
Longest hitting
streak – 15 games
HR at home – 17
HR on road – 27
Most home runs,
game – 3 (in 4 AB) at Texas 5/19
Multi-HR games
– 3
Most RBIs, game
– 6 at Houston 5/4
Pinch-hitting –
1 for 2 (.500)
Fielding
Chances - 283
Put Outs – 87
Assists – 184
Errors – 12
DP – 24
Pct. - .958
Postseason: 11
G (ALDS vs. Oakland – 5 G; ALCS vs. Boston – 6 G)
PA – 45, AB – 42,
R – 4, H – 11, 2B – 0,3B – 0, HR – 2, RBI – 7, BB – 3, IBB – 1, SO – 9, SB – 1,
CS – 0, AVG - .262, OBP - .311, SLG -.405, TB – 17, GDP – 1, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF
– 0
Awards & Honors:
AL MVP: BBWAA
MLB Player of
the Year: Sporting News
Hank Aaron
Award: MLB
Silver Slugger
All-Star
(Started for AL at 3B)
Top 5 in AL MVP
Voting:
Miguel Cabrera,
Det.: 385 pts. – 23 of 30 first place votes, 92% share
Mike Trout, LAA:
282 pts. – 5 first place votes, 67% share
Chris Davis,
Balt.: 232 pts. – 1 first place vote, 55% share
Josh Donaldson,
Oak.: 222 pts. – 1 first place vote, 53% share
Robinson Cano,
NYY: 150 pts. – 36% share
---
Tigers went 93-69
to finish first in the AL Central Division by 1 game over the Cleveland Indians,
while leading the league in hits (1625) and batting (.283). With outstanding
hitting and starting pitching, the Tigers put together a 52-42 first half, but the
club faded a bit in September when nagging injuries slowed Cabrera, holding on
to win the division by just one game. Won ALDS over the Oakland Athletics, 3
games to 2. Lost ALCS to the Boston Red Sox, 4 games to 2.
Aftermath of ‘13:
In 2014 Cabrera
batted .313 with a league-leading 52 doubles to go along with 25 home runs and
109 RBIs. Back at first base, in the offseason Cabrera had ankle surgery and
never again played regularly at third base. Hindered by the sore ankle and also
out for six weeks with a calf injury in 2015, he still won another batting
championship (.338) but his power production dropped to 18 home runs and 76
RBIs. Cabrera also led the AL with a .440 OBP. His power production rebounded
to 38 home runs and 108 RBIs in 2016, to go along with a .316 average and .563
slugging percentage. In an injury-riddled season in 2017, he missed being an
All-Star for the first time since 2009 and limited to 130 games he batted just
.249 with 16 home runs and 60 RBIs. In 2018 injuries held Cabrera to 38 games
and he hit .299. He appeared in 136 games in 2019, primarily as a Designated
Hitter, and batted .282 with 12 home runs and 59 RBIs. Strictly a DH during the
pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he hit .250 in 57 games with 10 home runs and
35 RBIs. Splitting time at DH and first base in 2021, Cabrera hit .256 with 15
home runs and 75 RBIs. For his major league career through 2021, Cabrera has
batted .310 with 2987 hits that include 597 doubles, 17 triples, and 502 home
runs. He has also scored 1505 runs and compiled 1804 RBIs, a .387 OBP, and a
.540 slugging percentage. With the Tigers the numbers have been .309 with 1056
runs scored, 2145 hits, 414 doubles, 7 triples, 364 home runs, 1281 RBIs, a .387
OBP, and .529 slugging percentage. Appearing in 55 postseason games he has hit
.278 with 13 home runs and 38 RBIs. In addition to being a two-time MVP, he is
a four-time batting champion and 11-time All-Star (7 with Detroit).
---
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
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