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Miguel Cabrera Key To Tigers Winning AL Central
Published by JM Van Horn on August 26, 2009
Since the middle of May, the Detroit Tigers have been able to hold onto first place in the American League Central division. Up to this point, the Tigers have somehow staved off the Chicago White Sox and the Minnesota Twins from overtaking them in the pennant chase.
The Tigers have been able to stay on top in the Central despite having $35 million locked up in three pitchers who have combined for a 2–5 record with an 8.04 ERA.
You can not forget about the masterful job Tigers manager Jim Leyland has done with his daily lineup. He has had to plug in 4A players throughout a lineup around Miguel Cabrera that was built on defense rather than power hitting.
Though this team has one of the best starting pitching rotations in baseball, the Tigers playoff hopes fall squarely on the shoulders of one player, Miguel Cabrera.
When you take a look at Cabrera’s 2009 performance, you see a player who has a .344 batting average, with 77 runs scored, 82 RBI’s and 27 home runs in 468 at bats.
Though Cabrera is leading the Tigers in the majority of the offensive categories, there is an area where he needs to continue to improve as the season begins to wind down..
Runners in Scoring Position
So far in 2009, Cabrera has been solid in the 113 at bats where there was a runner in scoring position. In those situations Cabrera has a .310 batting average with 6 home runs and 53 RBI’s.
The area of concern is when there are two outs and Cabrera is up at the plate. In 44 at bats, Cabrera has a .227 batting average with two home runs and 16 RBI’s. Cabrera has struck out every fifth time when in this situation. These are the lowest numbers Cabrera has posted since he became a full time player in 2004.
Now let’s compare Cabrera’s 2009 performance with another clutch hitter, Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins. On the season Mauer has a .372 batting average with 75 runs, 78 RBI’s and 25 home runs in 390 at bats.
When it comes to batting with runners in scoring position, Mauer has a .371 batting average with 6 home runs and 54 RBI’s in 89 at bats. Mauer really shines when there are two outs and there are runners in scoring position. During those situations, he has a .421 batting average with 3 home runs and 23 RBI’s in 38 at bats.
Cabrera is capable of putting up better number with runners in scoring position. Last year Cabrera had a .294 batting average with eight home runs and 83 RBI’s in 177 at bats. When there were two outs, Cabrera had a .274 batting average with 6 home runs and 34 RBI’s in 95 at bats.
Cabrera has been heating at the plate as of late and that is a good sign for the Detroit Tigers’ playoff chances, especially if he can turn around his performance to what he did in 2008. If he is able to increase his performance when there are runners on the base paths, the Tigers will have a better chance of being crowned division champions.
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Daily Link Lump: Did Jay Mariotti Really Write That? on Thu, 27th Aug 2009 17:16
[...] Miguel Cabrera key to the Tigers winning the AL Central — (MoonDog) [...]