Lakeland, Fla. — It didn’t take but a day or two for new Tigers’ manager AJ Hinch to figure out what previous managers already learned: If you don’t schedule Miguel Cabrera off the baseball field, he won’t ever leave.
Cabrera, a month and a half shy of 38, has been his usual effervescent self this week. He’s been bouncing around at first base — heck, he was literally dancing on the field Wednesday — taking reps, doing all the drill work, even the baserunning work. You love to see it, but as a manager who hopes to write the name Miguel Cabrera in the lineup 150-plus games this year, you also worry about it.