Clearwater, FL, USA; Detroit Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera (24) throws the ball to first for an out in the fourth innning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Bright House Networks Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE
Monday afternoon in the first inning of the Tigers-Phillies exhibition game, Miguel Cabrera was struck on the left cheek by a hot grounder off Hunter Pence's bat and left the game, bleeding profusely.
Hunter Pence does a lot of interesting thing, but his specialty is actually hitting baseballs hard.
Monday afternoon in Florida, Miguel Cabrera found out the hard way, taking a well-struck Hunter Pence "grounder" off his face.
Like this:
That drew blood, which led to this:
Cabrera exited the game, of course. He was taken to the hospital for "precautionary x-rays" and will reportedly need stitches. But to this point, there's no indication that he suffered a serious injury.
As Terry Francona suggested on ESPN, this incident will be taken as evidence in some quarters that Cabrera's miscast as a third baseman. But of course it's just one hot smash, and Francona argued that Pence's smash would have jumped up and bit every third baseman like that.
Which might be true. But it won't take many injuries before Tigers management finds a less risky position for the American League's best hitter. Last time we checked, Designated Hitter was still available ...
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