St. Petersburg, Fla. — Tigers manager AJ Hinch understands the external demands that come with trying to navigate Miguel Cabrera through the last season in his Hall-of-Fame career. He also understands that Priority One is Cabrera himself.
Priority Two is putting the best lineup on the field every day.
Priority Three is making sure the fans and opposing teams get ample opportunity to pay their respects and see him play one last time.
“It’s not easy, but I will be cognizant of all of that,” Hinch said Sunday morning before the series finale against the Rays, where Cabrera was in the starting lineup for the third straight game. “No. 1, priority is to Miguel and making sure he understands where his starts are going to be and when he’s going to be coming off the bench.
“Secondarily, I’d love to be open about where he fits in each particular series, whether it’s teams honoring him or that fans have come out to see him — there’s a lot of interested parties, as it should be. We will do the best we can, obviously factoring in his health.”
Hinch has mapped out Cabrera’s playing time in the first two series. He will start Tuesday in Houston and be available off the bench Monday and Wednesday. Hinch also announced Cabrera will be in the starting lineup for the home opener at Comerica Park on Thursday.
“It’s going to be series by series, as I watch him and who we are matching up against,” Hinch said. “There are certain pitchers we’re going to focus on, primarily left-handed pitching. There are some right-handed pitchers we feel pretty good about based on how we think they’re going to attack him.
“It’s going to be about when he can best do some damage and where his health is. It’s going to be series by series with some targeted starts for him.”
Cabrera, who has been hitting seventh in the batting order through three games, has been apprised of the plan from the start of spring and, according to Hinch, is on board with it.
“It’s not always going to be perfect,” Hinch said. “I realize some fans are going to be disappointed if they come to a game and he’s not starting, though that doesn’t mean he’s not going to get into the game. But it’s a tough balance, obviously.
“Miggy is on board with whatever it takes. What he told me was, ‘Whatever we have to do to give us the best chance to win.’”
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky