Entering the 2023 season, one would think that yes, Miguel Cabrera is the obvious choice to continue as the Designated Hitter for the Detroit Tigers. But will he actually be the full-time, everyday DH as he has mostly been now for many years?
The reason I bring this up is that as much as I love Miggy and appreciate what he has done for the Tigers, it’s clear as he enters his final season that he’s become a significantly below average hitter. Certainly if the Tigers were contenders his role would likely be limited to occasional starts, perhaps against lefties, and some pinch hitting duties. However, with Detroit likely to win somewhere in the range of 70-75 games in 2023 they have no realistic chance to contend for a playoff spot. Given that, it’s conceivable Miggy will still get the lion’s share of plate appearances in the DH slot.
I like they idea of getting him in spots where he can be most successful and although across the course of his stellar career his platoon splits have been minimal (meaning he has hit righties and lefties at roughly the same production level), that gap has been increasing. For his career Miguel Cabrera (a right-handed hitter) has had roughly a plus 50-point difference in OPS against left-handed pitching, but last season (2022) it was plus 90-points. So, playing him more against southpaws would make sense.
If not Miggy, then who?
There are other players likely to be on the roster who would almost certainly give Detroit more punch as DH. One possibility is Nick Maton, the recently acquired utility player from Philadelphia. Although he has a solid chance of being the Tigers’ primary third-baseman, his left handed bat would play well in the DH slot against righties, perhaps allowing Maton to platoon with Miggy on an occasional basis. Although Maton has so far (in less than 200 career at-bats) been a reverse platoon hitter batting significantly better against lefties. But, in AAA Lehigh Valley (for the Phillys) he had more typical splits blasting right-handers by +100 points more in OPS. So, given a larger sample size you’d expect his lefty bat to play well against RH pitching. He’s not a power hitter by any means though which is not the profile you ideally want as your DH. And, he’s overall more valuable in the field (either at third or second base).
Another and more likely possibility is Kerry Carpenter. He’s also a left-handed hitter, who plays corner outfield and had an impressive debut with Detroit in 2022 with an OPS of .795, 28% better than league average. He absolutely crushed the ball between AA Erie and AAA Toledo (in 2022) batting .318 with 30 homers, a .380 on-base percentage, and slugged an all-star-like .645 for an OPS of 1.025. I like Kerry Carpenter’s chances to get significant reps as Detroit’s DH, especially since the outfield picture is more crowded–and three other OF’s with more experience also bat from the left side (Riley Greene, Austin Meadows, and Akil Baddoo). And, of course, Carpenter’s prodigious power is well suited to the designated hitter role.
And, what about Ryan Kreidler? His defense-first style looks to be a better fit at third base or as a utility player. He is a right-handed hitter, so platooning with Cabrera probably doesn’t make sense. And his .178 average in a small sample size (just 73 at-bats) doesn’t seem very DH-like; however, as recently as 2021 he did mash for a .270 average and 22 homers between AA and AAA.
Eric Haase could get some occasional reps as DH on days he is not catching. He did lead the regular starters in 2022 with a .748 OPS. Of course he is also right-handed and not likely to DH very often unless something unexpected happens, say another player becoming the primary catcher. Two catching possibilities are Jake Rogers (coming back from injury) or Donny Sands (who hit .308 for Philly in the minors in 2022).
Will Miggy retire early?
I’m not sure how likely it is that Miguel Cabrera would retire early, say mid-season. That would fit the “unexpected” scenario which would open up the DH spot in the lineup to be spread around among a number of players to give them a day off from playing in the field, think: Javier Báez, Jonathan Schoop, Spencer Torkelson. And an outside shot would be a top minor leaguer cracking the club sooner than expected, especially if they were tearing up AAA Toledo. A couple of heavy hitters who might have a shot are Colt Keith (a top prospect who hit .308 at A+ West Michigan) and Justyn-Henry Malloy (who had a .289 batting average with 17 homers and advanced through 3 minor league levels in 2022 for Atlanta).
Conclusion
I think the most likely scenario is Miguel Cabrera playing less than the 109 games he DH’d in last season and Kerry Carpenter picking up the bulk of the remaining games. It could be roughly 81 games for each, or 81-ish for Miggy and the remainder split among various members of the team. What do you think? Let me know by posting a comment below or @MyWeekInBBall on Twitter.
