Detroit Tigers: 5 more Miguel Cabrera milestones

Miguel Cabrera Milestone: 3000 Hits

This one is no surprise. The Detroit Tigers put up two trackers, after all, and Cabrera is inching closer to 3,000 hits each day. The Tigers have 36 games remaining, and Cabrera needs 45 more hits. If he played every game left on the schedule he would have to bat .313 down the stretch to reach 3,000. It’s more likely he’ll play about 30 games to end the season, which would mean he has to hit .375 over a 30-game span to reach the magic number.

Miguel Cabrera actually has 51 different 30-game spans in his Detroit Tigers career where he has batted .375 or better. Unfortunately, the last such stretch came in 2016. If we assume Cabrera continues to hit about .280 over his final 30 games, he’ll finish the season roughly 10-15 hits shy of 3,000. So Tigers fans will just have to wait until next April to see Miguel Cabrera become the 33rd member of the 3,000-hit club.

But then it’s a question of just how high up the list he can climb. He’s on pace for about 120 hits this year, and while it’s nice to think he can duplicate this performance for two more seasons, it’s probably safer to assume his effectiveness and playing time will continue to wane. But even if he produces at 80% of this level next year, and 60% of this level in 2023, he’ll rack up another 170 hits. That would get him into the top-20 all time, passing greats like Tony Gwynn, Robin Yount, and possibly George Brett. Not too shabby.