Cabrera to the Outfield? I Think Not

I've seen a lot of discussion around moving Miguel Cabrera to left field to help with his recurring quadriceps soreness. First, the soreness is very minor, and is unlikely to affect Cabrera significantly over the course of the season. The fact that this write-up is somewhat outdated a week after the injury kept him out of the lineup should tell you about how minor this is. Regardless, I fail to see how moving Cabrera to left field would help alleviate this issue.

The quadriceps are in the anterior (front) portion of your thigh. As the article says, they extend the knee joint. When you stretch your leg, making the lower leg in line with the thigh, you are extending your knee joint. The muscles also provide motion to the hip joint, and are used frequently in running. If you go jogging or sprinting, chances are it will be your quadriceps that will feel a lot of the burn in the leg. Now, why would moving Cabrera to left field, a position which requires significantly more running and sprinting than third base, help this injury?

Free Ryan Raburn Update
Ryan Raburn is now hitting .333/.474/.867 after being unjustly demoted to Toledo. I've been saying for a long time that he should be the starting left fielder. I wonder if he said something about Jim Leyland's wife.

Obscure Tigers Farmhand Called Up
On an intentionally related note, former Tigers farmhand Jesse Carlson was promoted to Toronto today. Carlson was drafted in 2002, and struck out 47 batters in 38 innings as a reliever in Oneonta. The next Spring, Carlson was involved in an incident in which he was involved in an act that made lewd comments towards then Oneonta Manager Randy Ready's wife. He was one of three players released soon thereafter. I don't know all the details, but it sounds as if he was the victim of guilt by association, a verdict that is never fun for those doing the associating. The Tigers have clearly made character a criteria for the minor leagues in recent years. Between ReadyGate and Hugh Quattlebaum and company bringing new meaning to the phrase "Winning Streak, the Tigers seem to have cleaned up their act in the Minor Leagues of late.

While most of the other blogs have commented on winning, yesterday felt very good. I had a celebratory jump for joy after Thames' homer, and hopefully this is the start of what most of us expected for this season.