Detroit Tigers Links: Special Miggy equipment, 5 breakout Tigers, speedy play

Miguel Cabrera‘s injury and surgery was not routine. The surgery was effective and the recover time, barring setbacks, is about six weeks.

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Miggy’s arrival in Lakeland is being delayed as he stays in Miami to work on a specialized treadmill. But the Detroit Tigers would like to have him with them in Spring Training while he rehabs so they have turned to the NFL of all organization to help them out.

While the concern is on the players coming back from injury such as Bruce Rondon, Jose Iglesias and Joel Hanrahan and on the players trying to get back in Miggy and Victor Martinez, it is easy to forget that Spring Training could be a window into several breakout candidates for the Tigers.

Lastly, MLB made some bold moves to speed up the game, which we applaud. We discussed a couple of weeks back and had some commonsense solutions. The fact that you are reading this site means you are a baseball fan and you love to watch it however long it lasts, but so much downtime could be taken out of the game with some simple rules. The announcement Friday is a good first step but further action is needed (such as limiting replay time and reducing commercial breaks–which will never happen).

Miguel Cabrera Injury: Updates on Tigers Star’s Ankle and Recovery – Joseph Zucker, Bleacher Report

ESPN’s Jayson Stark reported that the Tigers have found a special treadmill to help Cabrera with his rehab at the NFL Combine:The Detroit Tigers made arrangements Thursday to acquire a special treadmill for their injured slugger Miguel Cabrera after finally locating one — at the NFL combine.To complete the final stages of his recovery from ankle surgery, Cabrera needs to run lightly on a special, gravity-defying AlterG treadmill that will allow him to begin aerobic training at less than full weight-bearing. So the Tigers began searching for an available model and eventually found one that has been in temporary use at the combine.Once the combine wraps up this week, the Tigers will have the treadmill shipped to their spring training camp for tentative arrival early next week. Kevin Rand, the team’s head athletic trainer, told ESPN.com the team submitted electrical specs and other details Thursday, then got the official OK later that afternoon.

2015 MLB Spring Training: 5 Detroit Tigers Breakout Candidates – Brad Faber, Rant Sports 

#5: In 2014, Al Alburquerque was without a doubt one of the Tigers’ better relievers, but he still wasn’t the same guy who posted a 13.92 K/9 with a 1.3 fWAR all the way back in 2011. He seemed to be a different pitcher in 2014 as he walked fewer batters but also struck out fewer batters. His famous slider still generated a 20.2 percent swinging strike percentage, however. With the talent he has, Alburquerque can still take his game to new heights.

MLB adds pace-of-play rules for ’15 – ESPN

The rules include mandating that managers stay in the dugout during replay challenges, that hitters keep at least one foot in the batter’s box during at-bats, a prompt return to play after TV commercial breaks and timed pitching changes.“These changes represent a step forward in our efforts to streamline the pace of play,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “The most fundamental starting point for improving the pace of the average game involves getting into and out of breaks seamlessly. In addition, the batter’s box rule will help speed up a basic action of the game.”The league, which announced the changes along with the MLB Players Association, established a pace-of-game committee in September aimed at making recommendations to speed up games, which grew to a record average of 3 hours, 2 minutes in 2014, up from 2:33 in 1981.

Next: Starting Rotation--The Tigers' Second Five