Cabrera

[BCTF]

It took 6 innings before Cabrera was charged with an error at third base. I am very surprised it took that long. That vaunted Tiger’s offense has yet to score a run through their first 5 innings

[powrwrap]

It took 6 innings before Cabrera was charged with an error at third base. I am very surprised it took that long. That vaunted Tiger’s offense has yet to score a run through their first 5 innings

That's Leyland for ya. Play guys in less than their prime position. I also see that Leyland's got the speedsters batting in a row: Cabrera, Fielder, and Del Young.

 

You do know that the third baseman only sees about 3 defensive chances per game?

[Gernzy]

Over/under on how many games until he takes another ball to the face? I'll go with 5.

[gunnarthor]

Verlander seems to be in mid-season form.

[James]

Over/under on how many games until he takes another ball to the face? I'll go with 5.

I'm betting that he's learned to protect his face after that one. Now, how long does it take before he takes a ball to the gut (while protecting his face)?

[Thrylos]

Verlander seems to be in mid-season form.

For some reason the ump's strike zone for Verlander is about twice the cize it is for Lester. Lots of called strikes that were not strikes...

[woolhouse]

I hate having to cheer for the Red Sox... but to see them get some runs off of Valverde in the bottom of the 9th was fun. And now Lil' Nicky Punto is in the game at third for the BoSox!

[tobynotjason]

He ain't gonna take ANY more balls to the face if he oles every hard hit ball the way he did his first E.

[JB_Iowa]

And Valverde totally blew it ... but the only thing that counts is the final score.

[Shane Wahl]

I'm betting that he's learned to protect his face after that one. Now, how long does it take before he takes a ball to the gut (while protecting his face)?

I learned at a very young age to get in front the ball. He did not and his body was at a weird angle for him to react properly. If he doesn't try to side-grab that ball he might have been able to react faster and have that ball hit him in the chest. It is laughable that they think he can play third base.

[Rosey]

ya know, verlander is such a talent and such a likeable guy, i can't help but cheering for him, even though i know they're our foremost opponent. the guy really deserved the win tonight. if the Twins end up having a crap season, there are worse teams and worse people to root for.

[StormJH1]

It's almost as if people don't remember that third base was Miguel Cabrera's ORIGINAL position when he became a star with the Marlins. He played a lot of outfield in his early years, but that was much due to the fact that they had Mike Lowell at 3B from 2003-05. Cabrera started 157 games at 3B in 2006 and 153 in 2007. He never played a single inning at 1st base until Leyland moved him there in 2008. The number of errors he made at 3B those years was a little high, but roughly comparable to what A-Rod (another great hitter) was doing on the Yankees.

 

When he came to the Tigers, it was perceived that he had gotten too heavy for other positions, yet his offensive production has actually improved over that same period of time. So it's not completely alien for Leyland to try him at 3B. I think the bigger concern is that they have Cabrera at 3rd, AND a bunch of other questionable defensive players all over the field (except for Austin Jackson in center, who is excellent).

 

Still, Leyland is much like Gardenhire in that he'll eventually promote from within and fix defensive problems with utility players and younger players if the problems persist. That's what happened by the end of that disastrous 2008 season, where the Tigers were getting similar hype, but finished with 74 wins when it turned out they were old and slow in the field (and their pitching was terrible).