It didn’t look good when Miguel Cabrera was in severe pain following a swing on Tuesday night and later on in the postgame it was revealed he has a ruptured tendon in his left biceps. The Tigers’ first baseman will have surgery and his season is over.
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Cabrera was the cheapest in drafts that he has been in a long time due to a back injury last season limiting him to 130 games. He had two herniated disks in his back and didn’t have surgery. Cabrera’s injuries this season included back, hamstring, hip and now bicep.
Cabrera played in 38 games, batting .299 with 17 runs, three home runs, 22 RBIs and an .843 OPS. Cabrera turns 36 in April.
While Cabrera won’t be helping Fantasy teams, John Hicks will. Hicks will get a lot of playing time at first base and can catch, too. Hicks has value because in many leagues he’s eligible at catcher. Getting a catcher that plays every day and doesn’t catch often is huge.
There’s less wear and tear and fewer days off. Most catchers don’t play day games after night games and at best play five games a weeks sometimes. The catcher position has been terrible this season and if you’re in a deep format that starts two catchers, it’s vomit-inducing.
Hicks doesn’t need to do much to finish as a Top 12 catcher. The consensus top catcher, Gary Sanchez, is batting .190 with a .291 on-base percentage. Buster Posey and Willson Contreras have four home runs each. Even the catchers that were drafted early have been underwhelming.
Hicks is even viable in leagues that start one catcher. In 42 games, he is batting .285 with 21 runs, five home runs and 22 RBIs in 151 at-bats. He has a 42.5 percent fly ball rate and 40.7 percent hard hit rate. Check your league rules to make sure he has catcher eligibility. Hicks has appeared in 13 games as a catcher, including 12 starts.
Hicks isn’t going to excite anyone, but most teams likely don’t have a great option at the second catcher slot. Hicks is currently a Top 12 catcher based on Yahoo! With all of the catchers ahead of him with more at-bats. Hicks won’t be a difference maker, but getting a solid average and decent counting stats out of a second catcher instead of an average in the low .200s will help your Fantasy team. Add Hicks now.
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