Detroit — At first, Miguel Cabrera waved off the notion. He was asked what it would mean to him to be selected to the All-Star Game at this point of his career.
“Oh, I don’t know,” he said. “It’s for the young guys, for the new people.”
There’s no way, for example, he’d want to keep second-year lefty Tarik Skubal from making his first All-Star team. But there is no rule against teams sending multiple players to the All-Star Game; it just hasn’t happened here in a while.
The more Cabrera thought about it, knowing the Tigers start the second half of the season in Oakland, he warmed to the idea. The All-Star Game will be played in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium.
“That’s the good thing,” he said. “If I make it, I would stay out there and not have to fly back and forth. I don’t know. It’s going to be tough. It’d be a good thing for my kids. They were too young before but they’ve got memories.”
It’s been since 2016 since Cabrera was selected to the American League All-Star team.
“Of course he’s going to make the All-Star team,” second baseman Jonathan Schoop said. “He has to. He’s hitting .300 at age 39 and he’s got 3,000 hits. It’s a no-brainer.”
Cabrera leads the Tigers’ qualified hitters in most offensive categories, including average (.297), on-base percentage (.339), slugging (.384), OPS (.723) and RBIs (20). So it wouldn’t be a ceremonial choice.
“I hope he gets some love from the fans, from the league, from the coaches and managers,” Tigers skipper AJ Hinch said. “It’d be a remarkable feat. His legacy speaks for itself, but his production this season has been very good for us.
“He’s warranted consideration. I hope it happens. We have a couple of guys who could be considered. Maybe we can send multiple Tigers.”
Cabrera went into the game Friday 8-for-25 in June, including knocking in go-ahead runs in the eighth inning of two of the last three games.
“He used to be hitting .350, .340, so you know how good he was,” Schoop said. “He’s still good. I’m not surprised, it’s just amazing that at his age he’s still doing it. He’s a special talent.”
Cameron down
Outfielder Daz Cameron had a triple, a double and knocked in two runs in Pittsburgh Wednesday, helping the Tigers beat the Pirates, 3-1.
On Friday, he was placed on the COVID injured list.
“Daz came in close contact with (someone who tested) COVID positive,” Hinch said. “Due to protocols put in place by MLB, he’ll be out a minimum of five days. He’s fine, he’s healthy, but he’ll be out.”
Cameron, getting extended playing time for the first time this season, was 6-for-18 this month with two doubles, a triple, a home run, five RBIs and three runs scored.
Robbie Grossman, who had been on the injured list with a neck sprain, was activated.
“I was down bad for a couple of days, but I’m better now and glad to be back,” Grossman said. “It was good just more so to get my body right. I’ve deal with a couple of things all year. But I feel good and ready to go.”
Grossman was back in his normal leadoff spot against the Blue Jays Friday night.
“Getting him healthy is the big issue,” Hinch said. “We know he’s a better player than the production he was giving us at the beginning of the season. We know that, so maybe this was a little bit of a reset. But health is the No. 1 key.”
Around the horn
Left-handed starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez (ribcage) threw four dominant innings in his rehab start at Toledo Thursday night. He struck out nine and allowed only two hits.
Hinch didn’t say if he’d need another rehab outing or not, but it seems likely Rodriguez will rejoin the rotation next week.
cmccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky
Blue Jays at Tigers
First pitch: 4:10 p.m. Saturday, Comerica Park, Detroit
TV/radio: BSD/97.1
SCOUTING REPORT
RHP Kevin Gausman (5-4, 2.78), Blue Jays: He throws 70% first-pitch strikes and has baseball’s best strikeout-to-walk rate (10.43). And, not coincidentally, his 45% chase rate is in the top 100 percentile in baseball. He’s a challenge. Opponents against his splitter are hitting .171 with 50 strikeouts. His last two outings have been rough, though. He allowed six earned runs and 15 hits covering only 8⅔ innings.
RHP Beau Brieske (0-5, 4.93), Tigers: He’s coming off the best start of his young career, holding a tough Yankees lineup to two runs (two solo homers) and three hits over six innings in the Bronx. One reason for his success is he finally started landing a third pitch. He threw 28 sliders which enhanced the effectiveness of his bread-and-butter fastball and change-up.