Miguel Cabrera Done For Season

Those are words I can only thank God that I didn’t have to write in May. The Tigers announced this morning that first baseman Miguel Cabrera has suffered a high ankle sprain and he will miss the remaining six games of the Tigers season.

Cabrera’s injury, suffered on Monday night as he attempted to avoid getting picked off at first, was originally feared to have been a broken bone, but x-rays taken that night came back negative. an MRI was performed in Cleveland yesterday and the results showed the sprain, which will sideline him for a few weeks. Obviously, the Tigers are down to just days before they disband for the winter.

What this means for Detroit is that you will see a whole lot of Don Kelly playing first base, maybe even some Ryan Raburn or Jhonny Peralta there as well. The Tigers need to win two of their final six games to ensure a winning season for the fourth time in Jim Leyland’s five seasons at the helm.

For Cabrera, it means that his case for American League Most Valuable Player ends. Cabrera finishes his season ranked second in the league in WAR (according to B-R), first in OBP, second in OPS, second in doubles, second in home runs, third in batting average, and first in runs scored and RBI.

Of course, those rankings may change given that his contemporaries will play through the weekend, but regardless of where he ends up, Cabrera has had a tremendous year. He set a new career-high with his 38 home runs this season and finishes up just one run and one RBI behind his career-best marks. He also set a career-highs in walks, OBP, and OPS.