LAKELAND, Fla. — Miguel Cabrera appeared in the Detroit Tigers clubhouse on Thursday afternoon. Before his final spring training. His final season.
A reporter requested an interview.
“Monday!” he boomed.
The reporter asked again.
“Monday!”
He smiled — that old familiar smile — and hugged Javier Báez.
A short time later, he bro-hugged Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson. The future has already arrived at TigerTown, while Miggy is still here. Still out there, like a runner on his last lap.
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As Cabrera prepares for his 21st season, the whole time, it’s hard not to think: Just remember this. Savor this.
Record it for history’s sake.
Maybe the entire season will be like this.
His final first day at spring training.
His final Opening Day. His final All-Star break. On and on it will go.
“Well, he’s a big deal,” manager A.J. Hinch said with a laugh. “He’s probably the only guaranteed Hall of Famer in the room. That accounts for something.”
Cabrera’s place in history is secure, the major milestones already passed.
Now, it’s just a matter of where he finishes. How high he climbs.
He has 3,088 hits, which ranks 25th in MLB history. Just one away from tying Ichiro Suzuki. So where could he finish? He has gotten at least 100 hits in three of the last four seasons. If he does that again, he could climb all the way to 16th, a spot held by Cal Ripken Jr. (3,184).
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Cabrera has 507 homers, 27th all-time. Just two away from Gary Sheffield. Four away from Mel Ott. And five more will tie him with Ernie Banks and Eddie Mathews. He would have to hit 14 homers to reach Ted Williams, Frank Thomas and Willie McCovey at 521, which seems unlikely. He has hit that many just one time in the last five years.
But apart from the numbers? Apart from his place in history?
Cabrera just changes a clubhouse the moment he arrives.
“Of course, he changes the entire presence in there,” Hinch said. “He’s done it for a really long time. So we’re happy to have him early. We’re happy to have him happy. And looking forward to a really productive spring. We’ve got to enjoy him for a shorter period of time because he’s going to WBC.”
In front of Cabrera’s locker, boxes of Adidas cleats, size 13, were stacked. He sat down and started opening them. Like a kid at Christmas.
Something of an annual tradition every spring.
So, that part felt normal.
But the rest felt different.
A sense of finality loomed over everything.
And you wanted to savor it.
He went out to the field and took some batting practice. He started easy and measured, as always.
While Javier Báez was in the same group and came out ripping, swinging out of his shoes and crushing some bombs, Cabrera was steady and precise.
Like a master at work.
Spraying the ball. Working himself back.
For one last time.
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Who’s on third?
Before Cabrera stepped into the batter’s box, the Tigers’ position players took infield drills on the backfields. Three players fielded grounders at third base: Andy Ibáñez, Tyler Nevin and Justyn-Henry Malloy.
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Ibáñez and Nevin are competing for a third-base platoon on the Opening Day roster, along with other right-handed hitters: Ryan Kreidler, Andre Lipcius, Cesar Hernandez and Jermaine Palacios. Among the group, Hernandez and Palacios have not reported to spring training.
Ibáñez has a career .304 batting average against left-handed pitchers.
Nick Maton, a left-handed hitter acquired from the Phillies in the Gregory Soto trade, is expected to make the Opening Day roster and play third base when the Tigers face right-handed pitchers.
A familiar face
During batting practice, Tigers vice president of player personnel Scott Bream appeared behind home plate to introduce himself to newcomers and reconnect with mainstays. He shook hands and chatted with Malloy.
Bream, who specializing in pro scouting, has a long-standing relationship with Hinch and was retained by the new regime after former general manager Al Avila was fired in August 2022. Scott Harris, the new president of baseball operations, watched bullpens Thursday.
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It was also interesting to watch the interactions between the new hitting coaches and the position players. All three hitting coaches — Michael Brdar, Keith Beauregard and James Rowson — were on the field. Over time, each player is expected to gravitate toward one of the coaches.
Brdar and Torkelson discussed hitting several times.
What was Beau doing?
Beau Brieske was on the mound, warming up with a giant ball on Thursday.
“It’s for core activation and core stabilization,” Hinch said. “You’d be amazed. There’s a lot of stuff that you’ll see guys carry and not just here but across the league, just part of their individual program, not part of our program, so not everybody will do it.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Contact Jeff Seidel at jseidel@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @seideljeff.