Miguel Cabrera cleared to begin working toward playing on Opening Day

Oct 5, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Tigers first duringan Miguel Cabrera (24) at bat against the Baltimore Orioles during game three of the 2014 ALDS baseball playoff game at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

It probably will not stop the national media from continuing to discount the Detroit Tigers’ chances in 2015, but the team got good news on the injury front for the second straight week when it was announced that Miguel Cabrera could begin non-impact baseball work to get ready for the upcoming season.

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Cabrera underwent surgery for the second straight offseason in October. The surgeon went in to remove bone spurs from Miggy’s right ankle, an injury he had been playing on much of the season, but found the more serious issue of a stress fracture. That was also repaired but required him to be off his feet and on crutches for much of the offseason.

Tuesday he was seen by doctors in Miami where a CT scan was taken and sent to Dr. Robert Anderson in North Carolina who provided the prognosis, which General Manager Dave Dombrowski described as “best-case scenario.”

The Tigers providing the following statement:

“Dr. Robert Anderson’s review of Miguel Cabrera’s CT scan displayed a good progression of healing. Miguel has been cleared to initiate non-impact baseball activities including hitting and throwing, and will begin a running progression until full weight-bearing is achieved. While there is no definitive timetable, it’s optimistic Miguel could be ready close to opening day.”

Non-contact means he can begin hitting and throwing but can not yet run. He is currently running on a unique treadmill in Miami and will report to Spring Training sometime within the next few weeks.

Cabrera’s announcement comes a week and a day to that of Victor Martinez‘s prognosis. It was a similar announcement which said the ultimate goal is to have V-Mart back by Opening Day.

Each announcement was extremely positive but by no means a guarantee. The Detroit Tigers’ lineup on Opening Day could feature both Victor and Miguel, one of them or neither of them. The Tigers will not rush them to have them available for that ceremonial day at Comerica Park on April 6.

According to Chris Iott, the optimistic goal is to have Cabrera back by then but rushing through the recovery time could risk losing their two-time MVP for much longer in 2015.

“He is as tough as you can possibly be,” Dombrowski said at the time. “They cannot even believe once they went in there and looked at it that he could play with the ankle that he had. It’s worse than what we ever would have anticipated.”The initial timeframe the Tigers were given was six months. It appears that Cabrera remains on that track.“That’s around the middle of April,” Dombrowski said. “I don’t see any reason why that’s not the approximate timeframe, but around opening day to be able to go full bore – if it’s before, if it’s after where that might be – but I’m very optimistic that it’s real close to that time period.”

So in summation, today was another good day on the injury front. Both Miggy and V-Mart appear on the right track.

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