With time winding down on the 2015 season and his job safety providing a constant source of speculation, Detroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus will likely find just about every move or decision he makes under scrutiny.
But here is one opinion Ausmus offered recently, on star slugger Miguel Cabrera, that very few people will dispute no matter how frustrated or outraged they are with the club's place in the American League standings: "He's the best hitter on the planet."
There have been very few bright spots of a dispiriting 2015 season for the Tigers. A porous pitching staff whose ERA is ranked dead-last in the American League. A bullpen that has imploded on multiple occasions, devoid of any true closer. An injury-riddled lineup that was whittled even further when the team's brass traded away some of its key performers at the deadline in July.
But, it is hard to find much fault with the type of season Cabrera is having, even with the 32-year-old two-time AL MVP mired in his current 0-for-20 slump.
Consider this: Cabrera, who was given the night off Wednesday as a result of his struggles at the plate, is still closing in on his fourth batting title, leading the AL with a batting average of .335, with Boston's Xander Bogaerts trailing him in second, hitting .321. Only Cabrera and Joe Mauer have as many as three batting titles since 2001. It's a remarkable feat, really, to be leading the American League even in what he likely considers a "down" year. It's an accomplishment that would also likely be garnering much more recognition if it were not for the team's dramatic downturn.
And if you go so far to suggest anything otherwise -- that he's not hitting for power, that he could still be somewhat hampered by the injury that landed him on the disabled list for the first time in his career this July -- Ausmus will stop you before you proceed. Ausmus will concede that Cabrera has been "a tick off" lately, as he told reporters in Minnesota, but among the many areas to dissect this season, this is not one that qualifies as high priority.
"I'm not going to question or complain about Miguel Cabrera's offense. He's hitting .350," Ausmus said during the team's last home-stand. "Homers come and go, sometimes come and go in bunches, and he's still driving in runs and that's the most important thing."
Indeed, it has still been a productive season for Cabrera, who did not even require a rehab assignment before returning from the DL. As of August 26, less than two weeks after he returned from the DL, Cabrera was batting .370 and his OPS was 1.086, both of which ranked first among all American League batters with at least 350 plate appearances, according to ESPN Stats and Info.
What is perhaps the most staggering aspect of all is that Cabrera has managed to put together another superlative offensive year with an injury thrown right into the middle of his campaign, one that sidelined him for almost six weeks and that at least a few trained talent evaluators believe has limited both his lower-body strength and his power, particularly recently.
“When Cabrera is at his very best he smokes the ball to center field, and deep center at that,” said one major-league scout who saw him recently. “His timing is not the same ... I do think the injury has contributed to his swing.”
Cabrera has just two home runs since returning from the disabled list on August 14. His last came on August 26. His batting average and OPS since then has dropped to .167 and .454 respectively, even though his batting average on balls in play have shown him to be at least somewhat unlucky (.208 as compared to the league average of .306), according to ESPN Stats and Info. In the month of September, Cabrera is batting just .192, with a slugging percentage of .231.
And yet, with the regular-season winding down, Cabrera is still in the driver's seat to finish on top. What is perhaps most impressive: He's still not satisfied.
Cabrera himself says he could be better and readily admits that he has fallen into some bad habits. He's far from complacent and is instead already eyeing improvements for next season.
"Yeah, hit more for power," he told ESPN.com in a recent interview. "I don't use my legs enough to be that consistent. It can be two or three days or it can be like a week where I don't hit in the gap because I don't feel the confidence in that power I used to hit."
A big part of that has been the mechanical adjustments in his swing and the training modifications required in recent years when injuries have hampered his offseason regimen as well as his in-season routine. Whereas he used to lift heavier with his legs, he's had to mix in more running the past few seasons, during which he has battled through a sports hernia, foot and ankle injuries prior to the Grade 3 calf strain sustained this year.
Cabrera said he's even willing to look into yoga this fall if that would prove beneficial heading into spring training. Anything that can help him stay healthy and productive next season.
The Tigers, awaiting mathematical elimination from the playoffs, are no longer playing meaningful baseball anymore, and that is paramount for Cabrera -- not the batting title. But that disappointment doesn't mean he will be tempted in any way to simply glide into a langorous offseason.
Even as one of the most feared, respected hitters in the game, Cabrera still strives to do better. Even if he does indeed capture that fourth batting title after all.
His goal for 2016?
"Be more ready for next year," he said. "Trying to hit more for power."
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