Miguel Cabrera in major slump to start 2017 season

Tigers fans shouldn't worry about star slugger

Leon Halip/Getty Images

DETROIT – The Detroit Tigers' hot start to the 2017 season has been impressive in many ways, but chief among them is the fact that Miguel Cabrera hasn't even started hitting yet.

The Tigers have won three games in a row and five of its last six to improve to 6-2 on the year. But the most important bat in the middle of the lineup is still MIA.

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Cabrera went 0-4 Wednesday, flying out twice, grounding out twice and seeing a total of just six pitches.

When he steps into the batter's box Thursday for the team's series finale against the Twins, Cabrera will do so with a .107 batting average, .242 on-base percentage and .350 OPS. Those numbers are a far cry from the near-MVP stats he put up just a year ago (.316 average, .393 OBP, .956 OPS).

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Perhaps the strangest part of Cabrera's slump has been the empty swings. Cabrera has swung and missed as many times this week as he usually does in an entire month. He's struck out nine times in 28 at-bats -- the highest total on the team.

No matter how ugly the stats are through eight games, there's no panic in the Motor City. Why? Because fans know the future Hall of Famer will come around.

Take last season, for example. Cabrera experienced similar (if not quite as extreme) struggles out of the game. Through 17 games, the slugger was batting .206 with one home run, 13 strikeouts and a .597 OPS. The doubters were much louder during that slump due to the team's 8-9 record.

On April 25, Cabrera went 4-4 with two home runs, a double and four RBI. That kicked off a stretch of 141 games in which he hit 37 homers, 28 doubles and posted a .999 OPS. He hit .329 over that span, knocked in more than 100 runs on 175 hits and drew 67 walks.

Yeah, Cabrera did just fine.

As much as baseball itself changes over time, the production of star players such as Cabrera generally stays the same on a season-by-season basis. No matter how much he struggles in stretches, Cabrera almost always finishes the season with at least 30 home runs, 30 doubles and a .900 OPS.

Barring injury, it's a safe bet he'll reach those numbers again this year.

Cabrera has shown obvious signs of breaking out of his slump. Early in the Red Sox series, he was whiffing on fastballs and openly showing his frustration. In the two games against Minnesota, he's shown solid power to right field in four separate at-bats. He wasn't rewarded with hits, but those hard-hit balls will eventually start falling.

Even when he was playing through obvious injury in 2014 and 2015, he posted a .928 OPS with 43 home runs and 80 doubles in the two seasons combined. He proved last year that, when healthy, he's not slowing down in his early 30s.

It's almost certainly only a matter of time before Cabrera breaks out of his slump. When he does, the Tigers will be even more dangerous.


About the Author:

Derick is the Lead Digital Editor for ClickOnDetroit and has been with Local 4 News since April 2013. Derick specializes in breaking news, crime and local sports.