CLEVELAND – The Detroit Tigers put veil Miguel Cabrera on the ten-day list of injured on Sunday morning.
Cabrera grabbed his left arm uncomfortably after throwing a pitch in the seventh inning on Saturday night. He continues his bat and stays in the field, but the Tigers pinch him in the ninth inning.
In 2016, Cabrera spun the same left bolt, but he only missed a few days to rest. In June 2018, he burst the tendon in his left biceps and missed the rest of the season.
To replace Cabrera, the Tigers selected first-team player Renato Nunez’s contract.
Nunez, 27, has played regularly for the past two seasons, hitting 43 home games for the Baltimore Orioles. He camped on a minor league contract but did not make the team. Nunez could have become a free agent, but he agreed to stay with the organization and wait for an opportunity at the big league level. It came faster than anyone thought.
To make way for Nunez in the 40-man squad, the Tigers have moved right-hander Julio Teheran to the 60-day injured list, an indication that his shoulder strain will tilt him until at least mid-June.
Cabrera played a dramatic home game on a snowy opening day, but has not made much offense since. He hit just .125 (3-for-24) with three runs and four rebounds. Cabrera has started all four games on a first-come, first-served basis after spending most of 2019 and 2020 as an everyday victim.
He goes on the injured list with 2,869 hits in his career and 488 home runs. The longer he stays on the IL, the less likely Cabrera is to reach the 3,000 and 500 homer milestones in 2021.
Nunez will be named for the fourth time in the series’ final against the Cleveland Indians.
Nunez is a native of Venezuela who grew up idolizing Cabrera. He trained late in the spring due to visa problems and could not do offensively or defensively enough to win a position during camp.
Tigers manager AJ Hinch apologized when he told Nunez the bad news that he would not make the team at the end of the camp, but actively recruited him to stay in the organization rather than claim his right to utilize free agency and sign elsewhere.
Nunez said he likes the Tigers and his teammates and decided to stick with it.
The Tigers put him in their five-man travel group this weekend, so he was already in Cleveland and ready to play when he was added to the team.
“He stayed with us because he thinks he has an opportunity and we think he has the opportunity to help us at some point,” Hinch said Saturday morning before Cabrera was injured. “He’s a real professional. He was very upbeat, very happy. He did not speak. He did not complain. He’s just working and waiting for an opportunity to join our club. So it was an easy call to bring him as a member of the taxi group to reward that kind of mentality and veteran presence. If it were not for his work and his attitude, we would not want him here. ”
TIGERS ’40-MAN ROSTER
Players in bold are on the active roster of 26 men.
Left-handed pitchers (7): Tyler Alexander, Matthew Boyd, Derek Holland, Daniel Norris, Tarik Skubal, Gregory Soto, Joey Wentz.
Right-handed jars (14): Beau Burrows, Jose Cisnero, Alex Faedo, Bokboer, Michael Fulmer, Kyle Funkhouser, Bryan Garcia, Rony Garcia *, Joe Jimenez, Alex Lange, Matt Manning, Casey Mize, Franklin Perez, Jose Ureña.
Vangers (3): Grayson Greiner, Wilson Ramos, Jake Rogers.
Binnelanders (9): Miguel Cabrera *, Jeimer Candelario, Harold Castro, Willi Castro, Niko Goodrum, Renato Nunez, Isaac Paredes, Jonathan Schoop, Zack Short.
Foreigners (7): Akil Baddoo, Daz Cameron, Robbie Grossman, Derek Hill, JaCoby Jones, Nomar Mazara, Victor Reyes.
* injured on the ten-day list
Right-handed pitcher Spencer Turnbull is on the COVID-related injury list, temporarily removing him from the 40s.
Right-handed pitcher Julio Teheran (right-shoulder tension) is on the 60-day list for the disabled.