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Miggy to undergo season-ending surgery on ruptured biceps tendon

Mitchell Layton / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The Detroit Tigers will be without first baseman Miguel Cabrera for the remainder of the 2018 season after he suffered a ruptured tendon in his biceps. Manager Ron Gardenhire told reporters after Tuesday's game that Cabrera will undergo season-ending surgery to repair the injury, according to Evan Woodbery of MLive.

"It's a very sad day for our baseball team," Gardenhire said. "He's a special player and a special person to have around here. It's a blow. I feel terrible for him."

Cabrera left Tuesday's contest against the Minnesota Twins in the third inning. He suffered the injury in the middle of an at-bat as he took a swing on a pitch from Twins starter Jake Odorizzi.

(Video courtesy: MLB.com)

Cabrera was immediately sent for an MRI after initially being diagnosed with a biceps tendon strain. It turned out to be much worse.

Niko Goodrum replaced Cabrera during the at-bat, and finished Tuesday's game at first base.

The 35-year-old has five more years, and $152 million remaining on his contract in addition to a pair of club options with an $8-million buyout for 2024. The severity of his injury puts his immediate future into question, though Gardenhire says they won't know what Cabrera's outlook will be until after the surgery.

"This is a serious injury. Understand that," Gardenhire said. "I'm not a doctor, though. I can't tell you. Once they go in there surgically and look at this thing, we'll all know more about how it's going to come back and how he's going to heal."

After a disappointing 2017, Cabrera was having somewhat of a bounce-back campaign even though his power stroke hadn't quite returned. He was hitting .299/.395/.448 with three home runs and 22 RBIs in 38 games.

It's been something of a precipitous, and swift, fall from grace. Cabrera won back-to-back MVP awards in 2012 and 2013, he won the Triple Crown in 2012, and recorded the highest OPS of his career a year later (1.078).

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