Detroit Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera Scheduled for Surgery on Tuesday

Oct 17, 2013; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera (24) reacts during a pitching change during the seventh inning in game five of the American League Championship Series baseball game against the Boston Red Sox at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

According to an ESPN report, Miguel Cabrera will undergo a surgical procedure to fix his injured groin on Tuesday.

"Detroit Tigers slugger  Miguel Cabrera said he’ll undergo surgery Tuesday in Philadelphia to repair a tear in his groin that limited his effectiveness during the playoffs.“Those are decisions you have to make sometimes if not it affects your future,” Cabrera told ESPN Deportes’ Enrique Rojas on Sunday. “If not it could hurt your career and that’s what I based my decision on. I consulted with the team and made this decision personally so I could keep playing with the team. I tried to (play hurt) to take advantage of the chance we had in the playoffs because with so many good teams you never know when a chance like this will come along."

It’s not surprising to any of us who watched him hobble through September and October that he was seriously hurt, but now we do have confirmation that it was an injury that ultimately needed to be fixed through surgery. It’s not yet clear what the recovery time will be post-operation, but there’s really no way he could have attempted another season at third base if he didn’t get the groin fixed 100%.

Cabrera hit .262/.311/.405 in the postseason — not terrible considering what some of his teammates hit — but a healthy Miggy may have been the difference between their ALCS exit and a World Series appearance (or victory). We’ll never know that for sure, but what we do know was that he must have endured a ton of pain to continue playing through that type of groin tear.