Detroit Tigers: Five Milestones to watch out for in 2018

Miguel Cabrera: 500 Home Runs (38 shy)

Miguel Cabrera currently sits at 462 career home runs, leaving him 38 home runs short of the magic number 500. Cabrera has hit 38 or more home runs four times in his big league career: 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2016. While it’s a stretch to assume he will reach the 38 home run mark in 2018, it is by no means impossible.

Cabrera would become the 28th member of the 500 home run club and the tenth first baseman. Cabrera would become the first player who has spent the majority of his career in Detroit in the club. Gary Sheffield and Eddie Mathews are both members, but each only spent a small portion of their career in the Motor City.

Miggy is coming off one of the worst seasons of his big league career, only hitting .249 with 16 home runs last season. While a bounce-back is all but certain for the 34-year-old, 38 home runs does seem a bit far-fetched. Most projection systems have him around 22-25 home runs next season. 30 certainly isn’t out of the question, but 38 would be a tall order.

Expect Miggy to hit his 500th home run sometime early in the 2019 season.

However, if he is on a power surge this year, make sure you grab tickets in left field for September home games, as Cabrera’s 500th home run is something you won’t want to miss.