bobrob2004

Despite the outcome, I stayed the whole game. And I plan on torturing myself again and seeing them later on this year. I'll let you know when so you can place your bets on another blowout game.

I'm going to the game today. First time going to Comerica in about 5 years. Exciting to see a game in person again.

There's basically four factors for WAR that get added together: offense, baserunning, defense, and positional adjustment. On FanGraphs, they basically take wOBA and adjust it to batting runs for that section of the calculation. wOBA factors in walks, HBP, singles, doubles, triples, home runs, etc. The exact situation of when these hits occur doesn't matter. A home run in the first inning in a 0-0 game is worth exactly the same as a home run in the bottom of the ninth with the score of 5-5 or 10-0. Win Probability (WPA and RE24) factors in specific situations, and the result gets added/subtracted, but this stat is not used in the calculation of WAR. I have seen arguments that this stat should be heavily weighted when determining MVP because it directly shows who has affected the team's winning, as opposed to WAR.

Since he's my Tiger, I'm going to have to defend Lange there. Meadows should've caught that.

Glad to know Hinch can manage a bullpen.

It's not the number of games that he loses, it's how he loses them that will determine it.

I don't think there was a lie. Your quote was very vague in Hinch's involvement. I do believe he was in the room when they decision was made and that he expressed who he wanted to be hired. However, I still fail to see the sense of loyalty between Harris and Hinch in the fact that Harris will feel obligated to keep Hinch on as the manager. If Hinch doesn't impress Harris with his managing this year, I think he'll fire him.

HInch had all Spring Training to find a consistent lineup and we had three very radical lineups so far. Why is he still managing like it's Spring Training?

I'm not rooting for that. I want the Tigers to win and if Hinch does that, then it's all good. I just don't have much confidence in that.

I also cannot find any information on Hinch's involvement in the hiring process. I cannot find any information that suggests that Harris is going to be loyal to Hinch. I found this, which suggests that it was all Chris Ilitch in the hiring of Harris: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/09/19/tigers-hire-giants-gm-scott-harris-president-baseball-operations/10428932002/

I don't know, I'm not behind closed doors. I'm just questioning how much of an impact Hinch had in the hire of Harris.

Is this really true or was it just all PR and the media telling the fans what they want to hear as opposed to what really happened?

I think this will be the last season for Hinch as Tigers manager. They already replaced Avila and several coaches. The next logical replacement is the manager. Plus, I think Harris will want to be involved in getting the guy to lead his team and not someone else's leftover. I know it's only three games and one series, but Hinch didn't show me anything on why he should be the one to lead this team. Although I wasn't a big fan of Hinch to begin with.

Ohhh, you said hitter, not player. My mistake.

Nate Robertson wore glasses.

Bobrob’s 2023 Preseason Prediction #14 – Matthew Gregory Vierling Similar to third base, the Tigers have multiple options for left field, including Matt Vierling, Kerry Carpenter, Akil Baddoo, and Eric Haase. The final roster decision could come down to Carpenter or Baddoo*, almost assuring that Vierling will get an opening day roster spot. Vierling played six different positions last year with the Philadelphia Phillies, including all three outfield spots, third base, second base, and first base, so his versatility will come in handy. He’ll likely get more playing time than a typical bench player as manager A.J. Hinch likes to mix and match his players (there’s also a possible righty/lefty platoon situation here with either Carpenter or Baddoo). Vierling did play in 117 games last year with 357 plate appearances, which is more than a typical bench player. Career ML stats: 2021 – 77 PA | .324/.364/.479 | 2 HR | 5.2% BB% | 26% K% | 121 wRC+ 2022 – 357 PA | .246/.297/.351 | 6 HR | 6.4% BB% | 19.6% K% | 81 wRC+ Sherman had an unsustainable .420 BABIP in 2021, which led to good fortune. In 2022, his BABIP was a more reasonable .290. However, there is evidence that his luck was flipped in 2022; he had a xBA of .279 and an xSLG of .408, suggesting that he has more power than the results show. In the minor leagues, Vierling had an ISO of .141, including a .188 ISO in 95 plate appearances in AAA last year. In the Majors last year, he only had a .105 ISO. His hard hit rate on batted balls was 34.1 percent, slightly better than league average (30.2 percent). His career Major League walk rate is 6.2 percent, which is way below his rate in AA (11.8 percent) and AAA (10.3 percent), so it’s reasonable to assume he’ll improve on this number. His strikeout rate of 19.6 percent was similar to his 18.2 percent in the minors, so there’s probably not going to be a big improvement in strikeouts. Finally, he does have some speed, stealing 22 bases in A-Ball in 2019 and 15 bases between AAA and the Majors last year. I wouldn’t be surprised to see double digits again in 2023, especially if he is frequently used as a pinch runner late in the game (not to mention the bigger bases). Being a right-handed batter, he naturally hits better against left-handed pitching: Vs. RHP – 256 PA | .228/.285/.339 Vs. LHP – 178 PA | .307/.343/.423 If Vierling struggles early on, I can see a strict platoon situation for awhile. Vierling is entering his age 26 season, a prime age for a breakout year…that is if everything comes together (spoiler alert: it rarely does). He has some Major League experience and doesn’t really have more to prove in AAA. If he can get his walk rate up to where it was in the minors and his luck evens out, he should be at least an average hitter for 2023. If all else fails, he should still end up being a quality utility player, considering he’s at least an average defender. *Baddoo was indeed sent down to AAA Experts’ Predictions/Projections: Steamer – 296 AB | .258/.316/.395 | 7 HR | 33 RBI | 9 SB | 23 BB | 65 K ZiPS DC – 325 AB | .239/.297/.353 | 6 HR | 30 RBI | 9 SB | 24 BB | 74 K THE BAT X – 337 AB | .260/.312/.399 | 7 HR | 36 RBI | 11 SB | 23 BB | 72 K ATC – 334 AB | .254/.309/.384 | 7 HR | 34 RBI | 9 SB | 24 BB | 74 K FGDC – 324 AB | .249/.306/.374 | 7 HR | 33 RBI | 9 SB | 25 BB | 73 K RotoChamp – 332 AB | .256/.308/.386 | 7 HR | 34 RBI | 10 SB | 24 BB | 73 K CBS Sports – N/A ESPN – 393 AB | .254/.311/.384 | 9 HR | 42 RBI | 15 SB | 31 BB | 86 K My Prediction: 2022 Prediction – N/A 2022 Actual – 325 AB | .246/.297/.351 | 6 HR | 32 RBI | 7 SB | 23 BB | 70 K 2023 Prediction – 340 AB | .250/.319/.385 | 8 HR | 32 RBI | 11 SB | 34 BB | 79 K

I wish MLB the Show would release a PC version. There hasn't been a good PC baseball game since MVP Baseball 2005.

I have one position left to do, left field, and I really don't know who to focus on, Kerry Carpenter, Matt Vierling, or Akil Baddoo. I don't really have the energy to do all three, so I'll leave it up to a poll. Who do you want me to cover?

Bobrob’s 2023 Preseason Prediction #13 – Nicholas Maton After six years with the Detroit Tigers, Jeimer Candelario left and signed with the Washington Nationals as a free agent. The Tigers then acquired Nick Maton, along with Matt Vierling and Donny Sands, from the Philadelphia Phillies for Gregory Soto and Kody Clemens. Nick is the favorite to get the majority of the playing time at third base this year. The Tigers have also signed Andy Ibanez, Cesar Hernandez, as well as internal options of Ryan Kreidler and Zack Short, that could all see some time at third base this year. Most of the projection sites (such as RotoChamp and FanGraphs) have Maton as the starting third baseman, so that’s what I’m going with. Wolfie only has 216 Major League plate appearances that span the last two years. Overall, he has hit .254/.330/.434 with 7 home runs, 31 RBI, and 2 stolen bases, with better rates in 2022 (135 wRC+ as opposed to 91 in 2021), but in less games played (35 to 52). Maton has mostly played second base, but has also played shortstop, left field, right field, and only two games at third base. In fact, he has pitched in more games (3) than he has played at third base at the Major League level. In the minor leagues, he was mostly a shortstop, so switching to third base shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Hey, if he struggles, moving to a utility role should at least be an easy transition. Career Major League Stats: 2021 – 131 PA | .256/.323/.385 | 91 wRC+ | 7.6% BB% | 29.8% K% 2022 – 85 PA | .250/.341/.514 | 135 wRC+ | 11.8% BB% | 34.1% K% Maton showed great power in his limited time in the Major Leagues last year. He hit five home runs in only 85 plate appearances (a 5.9 percent home run rate), a .264 ISO, and a 9.4 percent extra base hit rate. He has never shown this power prior to the 2022 season; with his home run rate usually between 1.5-2 percent and his ISO never going above .150 in the minor leagues (it was at .175 in AAA in 2022). According to Baseball Savant, Maton’s expected batting average was .207 last year and his expected slugging percentage was .347, suggesting that last year’s power was indeed a fluke (not surprising, given the small sample size). His hard hit rate was at 31.8 percent, which was near the league average of 30.2 percent. However, some players do gain power as they develop and Maton is entering his age 26 season (an age that most players enter their prime years), so some of the added power might be real. He is currently hitting .295/.354/.614 with four home runs so far in Spring Training. But it’s still just Spring Training. One big asset for Maton is his ability to draw a walk. He had an 11.8 percent walk rate with the Phillies last year, which is right in line with his minor league rate of 11.6 percent. Only one year in the minors Maton’s walk rate was below 10 percent and that was 9.2 percent in A Ball in 2018. It is probably safe to say that Maton is above average when it comes to walk rate and it may get better as he gains experience. It is easy to see why Scott Harris likes him so much with his ability to get on base (even if his strikeout rate is an issue, 34.1 percent last year). As with every other player that hasn’t proven themselves yet, playing time is the hardest thing to predict. With so many other possible players that can play third base, I don’t really see Maton getting a ton of playing time, especially if he struggles early (it’s even possible they can move Johnathan Schoop to third base). There’s just too much evidence that last year’s power production was a fluke. Although, he could start out hot and they could just ride it out. It’s not like the Tigers are expected to compete for a playoff spot, so they may just keep Maton at third base despite his stats, especially if he shows good defense. We shall see. Experts’ Predictions/Projections: Steamer – 343 AB | .222/.305/.352 | 8 HR | 36 RBI | 3 SB | 38 BB | 100 K ZiPS DC – 384 AB | .228/.308/.363 | 9 HR | 38 RBI | 3 SB | 41 BB | 113 K THE BAT X – 367 AB | .214/.290/.340 | 8 HR | 37 RBI | 4 SB | 37 BB | 108 K ATC – 356 AB | .219/.299/.356 | 9 HR | 39 RBI | 3 SB | 38 BB | 109 K FGDC – 382 AB | .225/.306/.358 | 9 HR | 39 RBI | 3 SB | 42 BB | 112 K RotoChamp – 371 AB | .224/.302/.361 | 9 HR | 38 RBI | 3 SB | 39 BB | 110 K CBS Sports – 368 AB | .245/.310/.413 | 13 HR | 51 RBI | 5 SB | 35 BB | 109 K ESPN – 151 AB | .219/.322/.384 | 4 HR | 22 RBI | 3 SB | 22 BB | 48 K My Prediction: 2022 Prediction – N/A 2022 Actual – 72 AB | .250/.341/.514 | 5 HR | 17 RBI | 0 SB | 10 BB | 29 K 2023 Prediction – 261 AB | .241/.322/.375 | 6 HR | 29 RBI | 1 SB | 32 BB | 87 K

Most of you, sure. He was completely out of baseball before I was born.

Bobrob’s 2023 Preseason Prediction #12 – Spencer Ketcham Turnbull On Wednesday, May 19th, 2021, at 12:54am EST, Spencer Turnbull got the final out of his first no-hitter. A month later, he was put on the injured list with a right forearm strain. A month after that, he suffered a setback and it was announced that he would need Tommy John surgery, which meant he would be out for the rest of the season and all of 2022. Now in 2023, Turnbull is fully recovered and is expected to be part of the starting rotation. Did the 117 pitches thrown in the no-hitter play a factor in his injury? It was the most pitches he ever threw in a game. He had no game where he pitched over 100 pitches in 2020 and he did it four times in 2019. Turnbull became a steady starter for the Tigers in 2019. He started 30 games, which included a league high 17 losses and 16 hit by pitches. He had a 4.61 ERA that year with a 22.3 percent strikeout rate and a nine percent walk rate, with a 3.99 FIP (suggesting a bit of bad luck). He improved his ERA greatly over the next couple of years, albeit with a lot less innings: 2020 – 56 2/3 IP | 3.97 ERA | 3.49 FIP | 21.1% K% | 12% BB% 2021 – 50 IP | 2.88 ERA | 2.95 FIP | 21.9% K% | 6% BB% In 2021, Orange Bull was really in-line for his breakout season, having improved his hit batters and walk rate while keeping a high strikeout rate and a low home run rate (0.36 home runs per nine). He was seventh in the American League in ERA before he went on the injured list. Although, no one knows how he would have held up in the grind of the second half of the season. In the first half of 2019, Turnbull had a 3.30 ERA, but a 6.60 ERA in the second half. One area of improvement is the number of ground balls and softly hit balls he was able to produce in 2021: 2019 – 48.3% GB% | 32.3% FB% | 13.3% Soft% | 41.4% Hard% 2020 – 50% GB% | 28.2% FB% | 6.3% Soft% | 33.1% Hard% 2021 – 57% GB% | 27.5% FB% | 18.6% Soft% | 21.4% Hard% Even though it was in limited innings, inducing a lot of ground balls and softly hit balls is a skill that hopefully he’ll be able to do again in 2023. It usually takes one full year after coming back from Tommy John surgery for a pitcher to get back to full efficiency. Luckily for Turnbull, he will still be under 30 for the 2024 season. But how will he fare in 2023? He only has one season of over 100 innings that was four years ago, and in that season he had a very poor second half. However, he has shown signs of improvement every year since…only to have surgery that forced him to miss a year and a half of playing time. Justin Verlander missed all of the 2021 season due to Tommy John surgery and came back and won a Cy Young in 2022. However, Turnbull doesn’t have the experience or talent of Justin Verlander. Turnbull is the biggest wild card of the Tigers rotation (despite every other pitcher being injury-prone). He might have the potential to be a top 10 pitcher in the American League, but he could also have a setback and struggle. The most realistic result is that he just has an average season, some ups and some downs. I just hope that he is able to stay healthy all year (as with the other Tigers’ pitchers). Experts’ Predictions/Projections: Steamer – 121 IP | 7-8 W/L | 3.97 ERA | 1.30 WHIP | 106 K | 40 BB ZiPS DC – 115 IP | 6-9 W/L | 4.56 ERA | 1.37 WHIP | 100 K | 46 BB THE BAT – 114 IP | 7-9 W/ L | 4.35 ERA | 1.34 WHIP | 93 K | 39 BB ATC – 114 IP | 6-7 W/L | 3.99 ERA | 1.30 WHIP | 99 K | 40 BB FGDC –118 IP | 6-9 W/L | 4.26 ERA | 1.34 WHIP | 103 K | 43 BB RotoChamp – 116 IP | 7-9 W/L | 4.27 ERA | 1.34 WHIP | 99 K | 41 BB CBS Sports – 171 IP | 11-8 W/L | 3.32 ERA | 1.11 WHIP | 155 K | 43 BB ESPN – 110 IP | 6 Wins | 3.60 ERA | 1.24 WHIP | 101 K | 39 BB My Prediction: 2022 Prediction – N/A 2022 Actual – N/A 2023 Prediction – 125 IP | 7-7 W/L | 3.67 ERA | 1.232 WHIP | 113 K | 40 BB

Bobrob’s 2023 Preseason Prediction #11 – Spencer Enochs Torkelson The Tigers drafted Spencer Torkelson with the first overall pick in the 2020 draft. He quickly became a top prospect, not just with the Tigers, but overall; 5th overall prospect by Baseball America in both 2021 and 2022. The Tigers were so invested in Torkelson, that they moved Schoop over to first base for the 2021 season as a stopgap and Miguel Cabrera made a “passing of the torch” like gesture before the 2022 season. Everyone was expecting big things for Torkelson right away (including myself), but the pressure seemed to have gotten to him as he struggled so much that the Tigers were forced to demote him back to AAA. In his first 298 Major League plate appearances, Tork hit .197/.282/.296 with only five home runs and 21 RBI. All the power that he showed in the minor leagues seemed to have disappeared as he failed to adjust to Major League pitching. He had a .297 ISO in 177 plate appearances in AA and a .293 ISO in 155 plate appearances in AAA during 2021. However, he only had a .099 ISO in at the ML level last year before getting sent down. The Tigers called him back up in September and he performed slightly better, .219/.293/.385 and three home runs in 106 plate appearances. Julio Rodriguez also made his ML debut in 2022, and he hit .284/.345/.509 with 28 home runs and a 146 wRC+. Many people were expecting this type of performance from Torkelson, but the reality is that it takes time and patience for a young player to reach their full potential. It took Nick Castellanos three seasons before his wRC+ went above 100. It took J.D. Martinez a change of scenery to a new team before he became a good hitter. These are the norms for most players with Rodriguez being the outlier. Hindsight is 20/20, but the Tigers and fans should have tempered their expectations for Torkelson last year, and also probably this year (again, including myself). It's only Spring Training, but Torkelson is currently hitting .300/.364/.450 and has hit several balls with an exit velocity of 101. Anything above 95 is considered “hard hit.” This is a very encouraging sign. 31.6 percent of his batted balls last year were hard hit. This would have placed him between Nolan Arenado (31.9 percent) and Trea Turner (31.5 percent), both of which hit just below .300 last year. Arenado hit 30 home runs last year and Turner hit 21. Now I probably shouldn’t be doing these direct comparisons between Torkelson and established Major Leaguers, but it does suggest that Torkelson was a bit unlucky last year. Baseball Savant has these expected stats, based on exit velocity, launch angle and other factors: Xstat - .225 XBA | .369 XSLG | .302 XWOBA Real Stat - .203 AVG | .319 SLG | .272 WOBA While these stats aren’t spectacular, all of them show that Torkelson was indeed a bit unlucky last year. Tork had a 9.2 percent walk rate, above average but still below his 14.5 percent rate in three levels in the minors during 2021. His 24.5 percent strikeout rate was also a bit worse than the 21.5 percent rate in 2021. Both rates could improve in 2023 with the walk rate much more likely to improve. Overall, Tork should hit better this year than he did last year just from experience and, hopefully, a turn of luck. However, I wouldn’t expect him to fully breakout and get to his full potential until a few years from now. He is only entering his age 23 season and players don’t typically enter their prime until about age 26. We just need to have patience. Experts’ Predictions/Projections: Steamer – 453 AB | .230/.317/.403 | 18 HR | 58 RBI | 2 SB | 53 BB | 122 K ZiPS DC – 488 AB | .235/.324/.423 | 22 HR | 68 RBI | 1 SB | 59 BB | 136 K THE BAT X – 471 AB | .236/.314/.399 | 16 HR | 59 RBI | 3 SB | 49 BB | 127 K ATC – 464 AB | .231/.316/.400 | 17 HR | 59 RBI | 2 SB | 53 BB | 127 K FGDC – 488 AB | .232/.321/.413 | 21 HR | 66 RBI | 2 SB | 58 BB | 134 K RotoChamp – 474 AB | .232/.317/.405 | 18 HR | 62 RBI | 2 SB | 54 BB | 129 K CBS Sports – 468 AB | .233/.320/.412 | 18 HR | 56 RBI | 1 SB | 53 BB | 130 K ESPN – 465 AB | .237/.331/.437 | 22 HR | 61 RBI | 2 SB | 61 BB | 119 K My Prediction: 2022 Prediction – 560 AB | .241/.315/.463 | 32 HR | 86 RBI | 0 SB | 58 BB | 159 K 2022 Actual – 360 AB | .203/.285/.319 | 8 HR | 28 RBI | 0 SB | 37 BB | 99 K 2023 Prediction – 538 AB | .232/.320/.396 | 20 HR | 54 RBI | 0 SB | 65 BB | 135 K

Bobrob’s 2023 Preseason Prediction #10 – Matthew George Manning The Tigers drafted Matt Manning in the first round of the 2016 draft. He was a top 100 prospect every year from 2017-2021. He made his Major League debut in 2021, starting 18 games for the Tigers with a 5.80 ERA and a 5.47 FIP in a little over 85 innings. Last year, he only started 12 games, going 63 innings with a 3.43 ERA and a 3.78 FIP, missing time due to right shoulder inflammation. Throughout his minor league career, Manning was always a high strikeout pitcher, constantly having a strikeout of nine of over 10. In 2019, he had a 2.56 ERA with 10 strikeouts per nine and 2.6 walks per nine in AA. When he reached the Majors, the strikeouts seemed to disappear, having 6 strikeouts per nine in 2021 (with 3.5 walks per nine), but slightly improved this stat to a 6.9 last year (with 2.7 walks per nine). Hopefully he will be able to get even more strikeouts this year and beyond and become even more of a dominant pitcher. He’s only entering his age 25 season, so he is primed to have his best season yet. Manning has five pitches in his arsenal: a four-seam fastball, a slider, a curveball, a changeup, and a sinker. He threw his four-seamer a little more than half of the time last year with a .198 batting average against, clearly his best pitch. What I would like to see him work on is have more variety of his pitches; mix his pitches up more, get the hitters off-balance. It’ll make his fastball look even better and hopefully result in more strikeouts. The Tigers still have Chris Fetter as their pitching coach (since 2021), so it’ll be interesting to see if this happens. Manning had a home run per nine of less than 1 last year (0.9). With the Tigers moving in the fences, it’ll be interesting to see if he can keep this stat low for 2023. Manning has always pitched better at Comerica than on the road: Home – 88 IP | 3.99 ERA | 61 K | 34 BB Away – 60 1/3 IP | 5.97 ERA | 44 K | 18 BB Although, most players will perform better with a home crowd. With Manning, he only has a little over 148 Major League innings over two years, a relatively small sample size that is hard to gauge much from. Who knows how he'll perform with the grind of over 100 innings in a season at the Major League level? As with the other Tigers’ starting pitchers, Manning is injury-prone, therefore predicting the number of innings is not easy. Even if he stays healthy all year, the Tigers may want to limit his innings as to not overwork him. The greatest number of innings that Manning has pitched in a year was 133 2/3 in 2019. I don’t think the Tigers will want to go much higher than that for risk of even further injuries. Experts’ Predictions/Projections: Steamer – 136 IP | 7-10 W/L | 4.59 ERA | 1.39 WHIP | 101 K | 46 BB ZiPS DC– 111 IP | 5-8 W/L | 4.58 ERA | 1.36 WHIP | 91 K | 38 BB THE BAT – 130 IP | 7-11 W/L | 4.76 ERA | 1.39 WHIP | 95 K | 45 BB ATC – 130 IP | 6-9 W/L | 4.51 ERA | 1.35 WHIP | 97 K | 44 BB FGDC – 124 IP | 6-9 W/L | 4.58 ERA | 1.37 WHIP | 96 K | 42 BB RotoChamp – 128 IP | 6-10 W/L | 4.64 ERA | 1.38 WHIP | 97 K | 44 BB CBS Sports – N/A ESPN – 104 IP | 5 W | 4.50 ERA | 1.41 WHIP | 82 K | 40 BB My Prediction: 2022 Prediction – 131 2/3 IP | 7-9 W/L | 4.65 ERA | 1.352 WHIP | 111 K | 43 BB 2022 Actual – 63 IP | 2-3 W/L | 3.43 ERA | 1.175 WHIP | 48 K | 19 BB 2023 Prediction –136 1/3 IP | 8-8 W/L | 3.63 ERA | 1.254 WHIP | 122 K | 46 BB

I don't know who the starting third baseman is or the starting left fielder.

Bobrob’s 2023 Preseason Prediction #9 – Jose Miguel Cabrera Torres 2023 will be Miguel Cabrera’s final year of a 21-year career, 16 of them with the Detroit Tigers. The future Hall of Famer got his 500th home run in 2021 and 3000th hit in 2022 and will finish with a .300+ batting average. He has been an all-star 12 times, won 2 MVPs, a Triple Crown, and a World Series (unfortunately not with the Tigers). He has been a stellar player for the majority of his career, so it’s a shame that he has declined so much over the past six years. The Tigers acquired Miggy in the 2007-08 offseason in a deal that also included newly hired Tigers’ broadcast analyst Cameron Maybin. Before the 2008 season, the Tigers signed him to an 8-year contract for $152.3 million. With two years remaining on this contract, he signed an 8-year extension that gave him a committed 10 years that is worth $292 million, a record at that time and guaranteeing that Miggy will retire as a Tiger. Unfortunately, the last six years of this contract hasn’t worked out as many fans would have hoped. While he was always able to play through injuries during most of his 20s, later on in his career was a different story. In 2017 he started missing games because of herniated discs in his back and with a groin strain. In 2018, he suffered a hamstring injury and a rupture in his biceps tendon that required surgery, forcing him to miss most of the season. In 2019, he started having knee issues. These injuries, as well as the natural regression with age, his weight issues and off-field drama all contributed to not so Miggy-like numbers: 2003-2016 – .321/.399/.562 | 155 OPS+ | 69.8 rWAR 2017-2022 - .262/.330/.385 | 96 OPS+ | -2.1 rWAR Miggy has been regulated to DH duties over the last few years and will now share those duties, most likely with Kerry Carpenter, Austin Meadows, and Eric Haase. With his limited playing time, I almost contemplated not doing a preseason prediction for Cabrera. However, with all that he has accomplished and being such an entertaining player and a fan favorite, I couldn’t NOT do one. 2022 was Miggy’s worse season. He had his lowest on-base percentage (.305), slugging percentage (.317), wRC+ (79), and fWAR (-1.5). After a decent first half despite little power, when he hit .287/.324/.346, he only hit .171/.258/.243 in his last 124 plate appearances. He only hit five home runs all season which was the only time it was in single digits, excluding his injury-riddled 2018 season when he only played in 38 games. An elite career walk rate of 10.7 percent, it was only at league average 6.5 percent last year. 2023 will not be a good year for Miggy. I don’t see an Albert Pujols-like resurgence. However, his team morality-like spirit and celebratory farewell tour will likely make for an enjoyable year for Miggy (and maybe for the fans too), despite his lacking stats. And in all fairness, he deserves it in a year where the Tigers are not expected to compete for a playoff spot. So long, Miggy, these preseason predictions will not be the same without you. Experts’ Predictions/Projections: Steamer – 294 AB | .248/.305/.359 | 7 HR | 33 RBI | 1 SB | 22 BB | 77 K ZiPS DC – 291 AB | .250/.309/.347 | 6 HR | 34 RBI | 1 SB | 24 BB | 75 K THE BAT X – 296 AB | .236/.285/.331 | 5 HR | 31 RBI | 0 SB | 19 BB | 71 K ATC – 292 AB | .242/.300/.346 | 7 HR | 34 RBI | 1 SB | 22 BB | 73 K FGDC – 293 AB | .249/.307/.353 | 7 HR | 33 RBI | 1 SB | 23 BB | 76 K RotoChamp – 294 AB | .245/.298/.344 | 6 HR | 33 RBI | 1 SB | 22 BB | 74 K CBS Sports – N/A ESPN – 345 AB | .243/.300/.351 | 9 HR | 46 RBI | 0 SB | 27 BB | 89 K My Prediction: 2022 Prediction – 475 AB | .248/.307/.368 | 12 HR | 59 RBI | 0 SB | 38 BB | 126 K 2022 Actual – 397 AB | .254/.305/.317 | 5 HR | 43 RBI | 1 SB | 28 BB | 101 K 2023 Prediction – 300 AB | .250/.298/.313 | 4 HR | 33 RBI | 0 SB | 20 BB | 78 K