Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera has announced the decision to undergo surgery on his groin Tuesday in Philadelphia after a myriad of injuries hampered him down the stretch during the regular season and limited him in the postseason.
"Those are decisions you have to make sometimes if not it affects your future," Cabrera told ESPN.com on Sunday. "If not it could hurt your career and that's what I based my decision on. I consulted with the team and made this decision personally so I could keep playing with the team."
Cabrera did everything but hurt his career during the 2013 season as the Tigers third baseman led the majors in batting average (.348), on-base percentage (.442), slugging percentage (.636) and OPS (1.078) while his 44 homers and 137 RBIs were second in the league, just one year removed from winning the Triple Crown.
Still, injuries piled up on him throughout the year and he attempted to play hurt during the postseason, where he hit .262 with two homers and seven RBI through 11 postseason games before Detroit lost to Boston in the American League Championship Series in six games.
"I tried to [play hurt] to take advantage of the chance we had in the playoffs because with so many good teams you never know when a chance like this will come along. It took me eight or nine years to get back in the playoffs and I wanted to be back there and help the team win," Cabrera explained per ESPN.
Cabrera said he's not too informed about the procedure, which is slated to fix a tear in his groin, and added that following the operation he'll look to make some adjustments next year.
"I don't know anything about the operation, I don't want to know the details, I just hope it heals fast," he told ESPN. "I am trusting that the doctors can fix the problem. I have a lot left in me."
The Tigers clinched the AL Central division with a 93-69 overall record before topping the Oakland Athletics in five games in the ALDS then falling to Boston.
Cabrera said he has a lot left in the tank despite the injuries building up, and this season he did everything to prove that fact with the kind of numbers he put up.
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