Lakeland, Fla. — Miguel Cabrera was all smiles as he walked toward the indoor batting cages on the back fields of Joker Marchant Stadium on Sunday.
“It’s been a long offseason,” he said. “Thank God we are here. It’s time to go.”
It’s been a minute since Cabrera could talk about the Tigers having a chance to compete and mean it. But with the addition of shortstop Javier Báez, veteran starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez and catcher Tucker Barnhart, plus the energetic presence of rookies Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson, the big man, entering his age-39 season, seems genuinely fired up for 2022.
“Your goal is always to win,” he said. “And we have an opportunity to do that here. I’m really excited.”
For all his milestones and personal achievements, winning the World Series with the Marlins in his rookie season is a rush he’s been chasing since 2003. For him to bookend his career with World Series rings — that’s his real dream.
“Somebody told me that the other night,” he said, smiling. “We’ll see.”
The odds of him achieving his 3,000th hit this season, of course, are much, much better. He needs 13 to join that club. He needed 13 home runs last year to get to 500. He expects this quest to be much simpler.
“It’s hard to hit home runs,” he said. “Hits, I can bunt and get a hit. Maybe I will bunt (laughing). Nah. No chance.”
As he said last season, he doesn’t want this season — his 20th — to be just a milestone watch.
“Getting 3,000 hits means a lot, but I have to go out there and do my job,” he said. “I have to go out there and do what I do and help us win games.”
When he gets to 3,000 hits, he will join Henry Aaron, Willie Mays, Rafael Palmeiro, Eddie Murray, Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols as the only players in baseball history with 3,000 hits and 500 home runs. Cabrera also needs three doubles to reach 600.
Only Aaron and Pujols have produced 3,000 hits, 500 homers and 600 doubles.
Never satisfied
Outfielder Robbie Grossman is coming off a year where he posted career-highs in plate appearances (671), home runs (23), hits (133), RBIs (67), stolen bases (20) and walks (98).
He also set a career-high with 155 strikeouts, which gnawed at him this offseason.
“There were definitely things I had to improve on and I made a conscious effort to make those improvements this offseason,” he said.
He spent a few weeks hitting with Alex Bregman, Trevor Story and Adam Frazier.
“Just seeing what they do and what makes them special,” Grossman said. “Just continuing to try to get better at my craft.”
At issue for Grossman was his launch angle. In his two previous seasons in Oakland, he raised his launch angle to 15 degrees and saw a spike in his hard-hit rate. But last season, his launch angle jumped to 21 degrees and he was having trouble getting the bat on elevated fastballs.
“I was hitting the ball like I wanted to, but there is a fine line there,” he said. “It’s about being more consistent. This game is about consistency and putting your body in the right position to make the right swing decisions.”
Vote for Alexander
Manager AJ Hinch on Sunday gave a firm vote of confidence to lefty Tyler Alexander, saying he enters camp as the No. 5 starter in the rotation.
“Tyler is the guy,” he said. “He can do anything on a staff that we need. He did a good job last year when we asked him to step in (to the rotation). He also can be a very valuable Swiss army knife in the bullpen. If we broke camp today, Tyler is the leading candidate to be in the rotation.”
Of course, at the same time, general manager Al Avila and the front office have been exploring other free agent and trade options to add another starting pitcher to the mix. Which is, with camp opening, not Hinch’s concern.
“From my chair, I’ve got a group in there to motivate,” he said. “I would never tell Tyler Alexander we need a new pitcher. I have a lot of respect for the guys that we have. If we feel like we can make our team better, we will dive into that.
“But it’s one thing to want it, it’s another to actually have it become a reality and be able to do it. I have to prepare this team like it’s the only group of guys we’re going to have.”
Tear-stained eyes
The Tigers last season were most effective defensive team in the shift in baseball. They saved 47 runs while deployed in the shift. Otherwise, they were a minus-35 in defensive runs saved.
So, you can imagine Hinch’s emotions when asked about the shifts being outlawed in 2023.
“I will tear up when that goes away,” he said.
In the meantime, he will keep throwing his intense brand of zone defense at opponents.
“We will play where the outs are,” Hinch said. “We are aware of the rule changes, but our goal is to get 27 outs as fast and best as possible. We’re not going to give up anything.”
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky