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Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera is one of the most cerebral hitters the game of baseball has ever seen. A career .320 hitter, Cabrera is a superstar heavyweight boxer, champion chess player and big kid wrapped into a 6’4”, 240-pound frame. MLB pitchers who stare into the batter’s box at Cabrera know they have to outsmart the Triple Crown winner.  While some pitching staffs do have success against this 30-year-old Venezuela native, most find themselves kicking dirt in disgust.  This includes staffs from the AL Central Division.  Per Baseball-Reference statistics, Cabrera has batted .320 (463-for-1,445) with 88 home runs, 89 doubles and 293 RBI in 380 career games against teams in this division. While impressive, Cabrera has given five other teams outside the AL Central absolute fits in his 10-year career.  These victims of Cabrera’s brute wrath (minimum 150 plate appearances), are the subject of this slideshow. Source of Stats: Baseball-Reference.com and ...

He is the quintessential jack of all trades, master of none.Getting rid of him would be like letting nine mediocre players walk away. But he’s open-minded; he’ll try anything once—and he has. Don Kelly has done it all on the baseball diamond. He just hasn’t done it all that well. Ah, but what would baseball be without the Don Kelly's of the world? Someone has to be the 25th man on a 25-man roster. Kelly has spent his entire big league career looking over his shoulder and seeing no one behind him. It’s been a baseball life lived on the edge...of extinction. Kelly, the Tigers designated sitter, has been hanging on to his big league job by a thread for so long that it defies physics. The Tigers drafted him in the eighth round of the 2001 amateur draft. Little did they know, it would be like drafting a boomerang. ...

The Detroit Tigers brought outfielder Torii Hunter on board for the 2013 season for two reasons: To help stabilize the top of the batting order to set up Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder and give a veteran voice in the clubhouse. If April is any indication of what Hunter brings to the table at the plate, then the mission has been accomplished. One of three Detroit regulars to hit over .300 in April, Hunter has indeed bridged leadoff hitter Austin Jackson to the heart of the lineup by hitting a very impressive .375 in the first month of the season. Scoring 17 runs himself, he has nine extra-base hits over his first 22 games. The home run production is on the wane—hitting only one so far—but with the big boppers behind him, the Tigers need him to be reaching base, not swinging for the fences. Seeing the ball perhaps better ...

Friday night’s superb performance by Anibal Sanchez may have been the tonic the Detroit Tigers needed to kick start their season going forward. Going into Friday’s 10-0 whitewash of the Atlanta Braves, the Tigers had split their first 20 games and were a game and a half behind the Kansas City Royals for the American League Central division lead. With most of the early season chatter focused on the daily plight of the Tigers bullpen and who would close, Detroit has come out of the gate surprisingly flat in a year where experts had forecast them to win the Central with ease. Nagging injuries to Andy Dirks and a slow start for Victor Martinez dampened the offense, however. Rick Porcello could not carry his fabulous spring north and has really struggled in his three starts. Brayan Villarreal struggled so much in his seven appearances out of the pen, he was ...

Pitcher Anibal Sanchez set a Detroit Tigers franchise record on April 26 by throwing 17 strikeouts in a win against the Atlanta Braves. In setting the record for most strikeouts in a game by a Tiger, Sanchez proved how valuable he can be to the Tigers this season. When the Tigers re-signed Sanchez this past offseason to a five-year $80 million deal, most fans assumed that Sanchez would be the No. 4 pitcher in the starting rotation and that management overpaid. Even though Sanchez is No. 4 in the Tigers' rotation, he would be the No. 1 pitcher for several teams. Sanchez, 29, has great talent and as he has matured, he has learned not just to throw, but to pitch as well. That is why the Tigers will arguably be getting Sanchez's best years of his career over the life of this contract.Generally, most people assume that pitchers struggle when they switch leagues ...

After a lackluster start to the season by the bullpen, the Detroit Tigers made two big moves on April 23 to try and stabilize it. According to MLive.com's Chris Iott, the first move is that the Tigers called up pitcher Bruce Rondon from Triple-A Toledo and placed pitcher Octavio Dotel on the DL for elbow soreness:The Tigers announced this afternoon that they have recalled Rondon and placed Octavio Dotel on the disabled list.The second surprise move of the afternoon was that the Tigers officially signed former closer Jose Valverde to a one-year deal. According to the Detroit Free Press, Tigers manager Jim Leyland announced that Valverde would be the closer:The team announced they signed the relief pitcher to a 1-year major-league deal shortly after their game with the Kansas City Royals tonight was postponed. He will be available out of the bullpen Wednesday as the team’s closer if there is a ...

The Detroit Tigers have recalled Bruce Rondon Tuesday, according to the Detroit Free Press.Rondon was called up after the Tigers placed right-handed reliever Octavio Dotel on the disabled list retroactive to April 20.Rondon was auditioned this spring by the Tigers for the closer's role, but struggled with control and the pressure of pitching back-to-back days.In turn, the Tigers sent him back to Triple-A Toledo to see how he could fare as a closer on that level while the big club decided to start the season by going with a closer-by-committee approach.Rondon has excelled in his opportunity with the Mud Hens.In seven appearances, Rondon has finished six games, saving three. In 7.2 innings, he has struck out nine while walking two. He has not given up a run and scattered five hits.With the closer's situation still unsettled, and with former closer Jose Valverde undergoing extended spring training with a minor league ...

According to MLive.com's Chris Iott, on April 23 the Detroit Tigers called up rookie pitcher Bruce Rondon from Triple-A Toledo and placed pitcher Octavio Dotel on the disabled list.The Tigers announced this afternoon that they have recalled Rondon and placed Octavio Dotel on the disabled list.Rondon, who was expected to become the closer for the Tigers this season, struggled with his control in spring training and the Tigers decided he need to start the season in Triple-A. Without a full-time closer on the roster the Tigers started the season with a closer-by-committee system. However, no pitcher in the bullpen stepped up and seized the closer role. Now, with Rondon on the major league roster, it wouldn't be a surprise if he eventually becomes the Tigers' closer. The questions surrounding Rondon have always been around his control, but not his pitching ability. However, at Toledo Rondon has pitched in 7.2 innings without allowing ...

Torii Hunter, Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder have been tearing the cover off the ball so far this baseball season, and they don't look to be slowing down anytime soon.The Detroit Tigers' 2-3-4 hitters are leading the team in batting average in their same respective lineup order to help the struggling Tigers keep their heads above water.For most of the first month of the season, the Tigers' top three hitters led boasted the best batting average and on-base percentage in the American League.Detroit has struggled over the past week, losing its last four games to fall to fourth in AL team batting average, but the Tigers' stars are doing their jobs.Here is why the Tigers' three best hitters will continue their torrid pace for the rest of the season:Begin Slideshow

The Detroit Tigers lead the majors in hitting with a .307 batting average, which is important to consider when making your MLB picks Tuesday, as they prepare to open up a three-game series against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field.Sports bettors will find that the Tigers are -165 road favorites in the pro baseball odds (courtesy of SBR Forum), while the total stands at 7.5 in the market.Let's take a closer look at this American League matchup from a betting perspective, while offering up a prediction on the total along the way.Begin Slideshow