Miguel Cabrera doesn’t exactly walk softly and carry a big stick. He recently became the highest paid player in baseball, signing a contract extension that pays him more than $30 million per season (average annual value.) He is the two-time defending American League Most Valuable Player. He plays on the best team in baseball.
It is difficult for Cabrera, often celebrated as the best hitter in baseball, to fly under the radar. But, somehow, that’s exactly what he’s done this month. While his teammate, Victor Martinez, attracted headlines for his great hitting after a very rough start last season, Miggy keeps plugging away.
Cabrera got off to a sluggish start to the season, likely still adjusting to the extra weight of his cartoonishly full wallet, but he woke up in May. VMart, Yasiel Puig and Edwin Encarnacion rightly stole the headlines this month, but Cabrera returned to form.
After hitting just two home runs in April and posting exactly league average numbers across the board, Cabrera exploded this month. In May, he has six homers and a .366/.409/.653 slash line. Runs Batted In might be currency of the ancients, but Cabrera has 31 this month, amazing when we consider on base machine Victor Martinez hits behind Cabrera in the Tigers’ lineup.
There is a not much to say about Miguel Cabrera as a hitter. He’s the best in the game and has been for years. He is quick to the inside pitch and has the power to take even the pitcher’s pitch over the fence the other way.
For all the talk of “faces of baseball”, Cabrera seems overlooked. After his challenges with alcohol and drunk driving, it’s understandable (to an extent) that sponsors aren’t running to Miggy to endorse their products. With those issues seemingly behind him and his place in the game secured, Cabrera appears very much at ease on the field, showing an endearing lighter side between the lines.
He interacts with opposing fans:
And plays good-natured grabass with rival and noted goofball Adrian Beltre.
And always finds time to ham it up for the camera
It’s easy to look the other way when it’s a star player embracing “distractions” on the field. And to his credit, Cabrera even looks sharp in the field of late. His MLB.com video page is littered with nice grabs and digs around first base.
Advanced fielding metrics, while not terribly instructive at this early stage of the season, show his play at first to be a tick above average. The more granular Inside Edge fielding numbers show him to be capable of making the routine plays while stretching out for the odd tough one.
The Tigers did not give Cabrera a record-setting contract extension to play defense at first base. They gave him that money to hit.
And hit he has. Hit he always will. We’ll all look up at the leaderboards in August and Cabrera’s name will sit at the top of most of them. Same as it ever was. Miguel Cabrera, force of nature.