Detroit Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera is out of the Tigers lineup Saturday against the Cleveland Indians at Comerica Park due to a strained left abdominal wall that has aggravated him for a month.
Cabrera, the reigning American League MVP, is making a bid for his second-straight award in 2013. Cabrera leads the league in average (.358) RBIs (130) hits (173) on-base percentage (.449) slugging percentage (.681) and on-base plus slugging (1.130) while trailing just the Baltimore Orioles Chris Davis in homers. Davis has slugged 47 long-balls while Cabrera is hot on his trail with 43 round-trippers.
Cabrera won the Triple Crown last year, hitting .330 while going deep a career-high 44 times and racking up 139 RBIs, and if he catches Davis he would win the award for a second straight year if he keeps his lead in average and RBIs.
Cabrera, 30, left early in the Tigers past two games. According to ESPN, Tigers manager Jim Leyland said that his trainers and medical staff have assured him that if Cabrera plays he can't make the injury any worse, but still the Tigers are being cautious with him as the team prepares for some postseason baseball in October.
"Our primary concern with Miguel Cabrera is his health," Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said per ESPN. "As much as anybody would, we'd like to see him win the home run title, RBI title or Triple Crown, but he's playing for the good of the team."
Cabrera hurt his abdomen on an awkward slide in Thursday's game and departed the game in the fifth inning then left Friday's game after just two innings due to irritating the area again. A video of Cabrera leaving the game following a strikeout can be seen here.
Roman Santiago took Cabrera's place at third Saturday and Leyland slid Torii Hunter to the third slot in the lineup in Cabrera's absence.
The Tigers are hoping to keep a strangle hold on the division as Detroit currently leads the American League Central by 7.5 games over the second place Cleveland Indians.
Cabrera could have played Saturday, but the Tigers aired on the side of caution. Whether he's back in the lineup Sunday remains to be seen.
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