It happened. After what felt like an eternity sitting at 499, Miguel Cabrera hit number 500 on Sunday in a wild game that the Tigers would take in extra innings to clinch a series win in Toronto. Monday is yet another off day before the team takes on the Cardinals in a short two game tilt. Let’s see what’s happening in the news.
Wily goes down
Wily Peralta was placed on the 10-day IL on Sunday with a finger blister. Peralta had been performing quite admirably as a fill in for what has turned out to be a starting rotation that continues to be bitten by the injury bug. In 13 games this year, Peralta has posted a respectable 3.63 ERA. With Matthew Boyd and Jose Ureña both on the cusp of returning to the team, I suppose we can hope their returns line up well enough that Peralta won’t be too sorely missed. With the plan being to activate Peralta immediately after he comes of the 10-day IL, Detroit is about to have something they haven’t had to worry about in a bit: too many starting pitchers.
There’s talk of using Ureña in a bit of a different role when he returns, but at this point it’s still just talk. Ureña has another rehab start as he builds back up and the conversation currently rests around the kind of role they see Ureña filling and if stretching him out in Toledo is worthwhile or if he should just come up and pitch out of the pen for a bit. When Boyd returns the hardest part of running a modified six-man rotation would seem to be who gets to be the sixth man. Hinch and Chris Fetter are discussing hybrid starts as well as a pure bullpen role, but the point is Ureña is coming back and they intend to make use of him.
It don’t mean a thing if you ain’t got that swing
Zack Short didn’t need anyone to tell him that he needed to make a change. His performance was giving him all the information he needed. His offense had been slipping and the harder he tried to hit his way out of it, the worse it got. It’s a problem he readily acknowledges
“Man, I was swinging at the rosin bag. If you threw it to me, I’d have swung at it.”
Short was sent down to Toledo for what amounted to a two-day stretch before he got called back up because of another injury on the team, but in that two days he started making adjustments. The focus was to adjust his upper body and to try and be more level with a swing that had gotten long and loopy. It looks like he’s seeing some improvement, although that’s not a really high bar to clear. The fact that he’s making in season swing adjustments that seem to be working is pretty impressive. Let’s see if he continues to improve.
Buck Ranger
Buck Farmer has found himself a new home. He was designated for assignment by the Tigers a shade over a week ago, and he is now pitching on a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers. It’s not surprising that he landed somewhere fast. Despite some of his struggles, he has shown the ability to put up decent numbers. I hope he gets up with the big club in Texas and hangs around for a bit.
Five hundo
It took a few games, but Miggy finally did it. On Sunday Cabrera hit number 500 to right center field in the Rogers Centre. It didn’t take long for the congratulations to come rolling in.
Leading up to the historic hit there was some talk around what would happen with the home run ball. Would the fan who caught it turn it over? How much would it be worth? What would the person who caught the ball ask for in return? Outfield seats have been hard to get ever since Miggy reached 499 because so many people wanted to be that fan. Miggy saved us all the trouble and parked it in the batting cage right beside the Tiger’s bullpen. A bullpen catcher snagged it, MLB authenticated it, and Miggy was given the ball in the locker room after the game.
Haase hits the IL
On Thursday, the Tigers placed Eric Haase on the 10-day IL retroactive to Monday. He’ll be eligible to come off on the 26th. Haase has been dealing with a minor back injury and, knowing he likely wouldn’t be able to catch for the Blue Jays series, AJ Hinch made the decision to place him on the IL so they could bring along some players who would be able to help out. Haase should start a short rehab assignment with the MudHens on Tuesday or Wednesday before he returns to the big club.
Derek Hill is awesome
Around the horn
MLB to part way with Topps and sign exclusive licensing deal with Fanatics for trading cards. Ohtani would’ve been OK giving up number 500 to Miggy. Who will be the next player to get to 500 home runs?