Miguel Cabrera cleared two major hurdles in his recovery from a Grade 3 calf strain on Tuesday evening, running the bases and taking live batting practice with teammates before the Tigers’ series opener at Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium.
Tigers manager Brad Ausmus told MLB.com’s Jason Beck after the workout that everything went as planned and Cabrera could be cleared to return to the active roster this weekend in Houston. It sounds like the 32-year-old slugger is going to be allowed to skip a minor league rehab assignment.
Cabrera has been on the disabled list since July 4. In his absence, the Tigers have fallen out of contention in both the AL Central and Wild Card race. They were sellers at the July 31 trade deadline and cut ties with longtime GM Dave Dombrowski last week.
This is the first disabled list stint of Cabrera’s illustrious 13-year major league career.