Detroit Tigers general manager Al Avila appeared alongside Buster Olney on “Baseball Tonight” on Friday to discuss the state of his team. The first topic covered was one that is likely at the forefront of the minds of most Tigers fans – the health and physical transformation of slugger Miguel Cabrera.
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Avila had this to say about Cabrera’s offseason workouts:
“He probably had the busiest offseason that he has ever had. He worked out every day, He had a physical therapist and back specialist, and of course, his own personal trainer. It was basically focusing on strengthening his core muscles to obviously support the back. Obviously losing weight but gaining muscle strength which is very important. Last year, at the WBC he hurt his back and he ended up losing weight but he dropped it too quickly, and he didn’t get the strength that he needed. So this offseason he basically spent a lot of time on strengthening the core muscles but, also strength and conditioning in general. So right now he’s probably in the best shape he has been in a long, long time.”
He continued:
“He is still a great hitter. And like I said, Miguel Cabrera at 75% is still a really good, dangerous hitter. So, that’s why he plays every day. That’s also a merit to him because he doesn’t, he is one of those few athletes and I’ve said this before, there are guys that won’t go out there and give you an at-bat unless everything is one-hundred percent and then there are guys like Miguel that will play every day no matter what, you really have to cart him off you know something really bad and that’s just him. Here at Spring Training so far, he has been bouncing around as good as I’ve ever seen him, and it’s a good, positive sign. And all the hard work has paid off so we are hoping for the best that he continues healthy throughout the season and he should be back to his former self.”
Obviously, a lot of optimism is coming from the general manager in regards to his All-Star slugger. Can he be blamed, though? Remember that Cabrera is owed 248 million dollars over the next 8 seasons ( the final two years are mutual option years).
The podcast’s episode is titled “In From The Cold”. Avila’s interview begins at the 28:32 mark.
Click here to listen to the interview.
