Miguel Cabrera will miss the rest of the season with a ruptured bicep tendon, and here are five replacements options off the waiver wire in your fantasy baseball league.
After a down year in 2017 (.249/.329/.399, 16 home runs, 60 RBI over 529 plate appearances), Miguel Cabrera missed basically the entire month of May with a hamstring injury. Things got a lot worse Tuesday night, as Cabrera swung awkwardly in the bottom of the third inning and left the game with a left arm injury.
Cabrera is out for the season with a ruptured tendon in his left bicep, which will require surgery. He missed a few games in late-April/early May with what was called a muscle spasm in his left bicep, so that looks like a clear pre-cursor to the more severe injury.
Even at something less than his previous standard, as he was hitting .299 (.843 OPS) with three home runs and 22 RBI over 157 plate appearances this season, Cabrera will leave a significant void in the Tigers’ lineup.
Cabrera’s fantasy baseball owners will now also have a big void to fill in their lineups, so here are five possible waiver wire replacements for him.
All stats and ownership rates are through action on June 12.
Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn/Getty Images
5. Niko Goodrum/John Hicks, Detroit Tigers
Unless they sign a veteran like Hanley Ramirez or Adrian Gonzalez, Goodrum and Hicks are Detroit’s internal replacements for Cabrera.
Goodrum replaced Cabrera in the game on Tuesday night, and went 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored. He is hitting a fairly respectable .234/.316/.433 with five home runs, 17 RBI and five stolen bases so far this season, while starting games in the outfield, at shortstop and at second base. That versatility adds to his appeal in deeper fantasy leagues.
Hicks was the primary fill-in for the Tigers at first base when Cabrera was out in May, starting 25 games from May 4 through the end of the month. He hit .287 with three home runs, 13 RBI over that span, and overall this season he’s hitting .285 with five home runs and 22 RBI. He is also eligible at catcher in fantasy leagues, which enhances his value with how bad that position has been this year.
Goodrum and Hicks are not must-adds in fantasy, but Cabrera owners in AL-only and very deep mixed leagues should be taking a look at them.
Goodrum Yahoo! Ownership: 6%
Goodrum ESPN Ownership: 3.1%
Hicks Yahoo! Ownership: 28%
Hicks ESPN Ownership: 4.9%