Cabrera Sizzling Through Six Games, Off To His Best Start Since 2010
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
CBS DETROIT - Following offseason surgery to remove bone spurs from his ankle and repair a stress fracture in his foot, Detroit Tigers superstar Miguel Cabrera is off to his best start in years.
Through 29 plate appearances over six games, Cabrera has 13 hits - including two doubles and two home runs - and has been walked four times. He has struck out only once. His batting average is .520, his on-base percentage is .586, and his on-base-plus-slugging percentage is 1.426.
Not surprisingly, Cabrera's hits, OBP and OPS are the best in the American League, as are his eight runs batted in and 21 total bases.
Cabrera turned in back-to-back four-hit games over the weekend, and his performance Sunday was staggering even for him: his four hits included a double and two home runs.
Cabrera is a nine-time All-Star, two-time MVP and Triple Crown winner, so he has certainly had great starts to seasons before, but not since 2010 has he gotten so hot so quickly.
Cabrera has gone .500 or better in the first six games of a season three times before, but the most recent was 2010, when he turned in a batting average of .522. That was also the last season Cabrera logged double-digit hits (12) through the first six games, something he has also done three times before in his career.
Thanks largely to Sunday's game, Cabrera's power numbers through the first six games are his best since 2012, the year he won the Triple Crown. That season Cabrera had a double and three home runs and an OPS of 1.339. Through the first six games this year, Cabrera has two doubles, two home runs and an OPS of 1.426.
Cabrera's one strikeout through six games is a career best, while his four walks are the most since 2012. His 13 hits are also the most ever he has had through the first six games of a season.
When the Tigers announced in late October that Cabrera had undergone surgery - for the second straight offseason - there was some doubt whether he would be ready by Opening Day. At least so far, Cabrera seems to be as dominant as ever.