We know Cabrera can hit, but Tigers say he can mitt
posted in 2008 Spring Training |
Unexpected news out of Lakeland is that Miguel Cabrera is impressing the Tigers with his glovework at third base.
Instead of saying Cabrera will probably grade out as “average” with the glove, which even general manager Dave Dombrowski has said about him, early indications are that the Tigers could be pleasantly surprised.
“We haven’t worked anyone hard yet as far as movement,” said manager Jim Leyland, “but I can see he has very good hands, soft hands. (Infield coach Rafael Belliard) has looked at tape after tape of him and has said to me that he has a chance to be real good.” (Detroit News)
But now a word of caution. It’s not that I don’t believe this. Cabrera certainly looks better in photos this spring than photos from last season. So I can believe he’d be more agile.
On the other hand, what exactly are the Tigers supposed to say when reporters ask them about Cabrera’s defense?
“Well, you know, Tom, we knew he wasn’t very good at the position and he’s proving us right.” “I mean, Jon, we expected he was average and he’s playing the position averagely.”
So I’m going to take the quotes out of Lakeland as good news, but withhold any real opinion on them until we see how he performs in real life games — that count. Let’s check back in April or May.
Photo credit: Duane Burleson/AP
Sphere It
I realize you can tell if someone has bad hands or not after taking some ground balls, but it’s curious that Leyland is quoted as admitting they “haven’t worked anyone hard yet.”
So this does come off as some spin to me. Though coming out and saying “Hey, hey - he’s not THAT bad” isn’t necessarily a bad thing, either. But like you said, Kurt, let’s see how it goes under actual game conditions.