Yankees speak highly of Tigers' Miguel Cabrera as his brilliant career nears its end

DETROIT — Miguel Cabrera has long been one of the most popular players in Major League Baseball among his peers.

And it is no different in the Yankees’ dugout when it comes to the 40-year-old, who is in the final season of a 21-year career that will — or certainly should — land him in Cooperstown on the first ballot.

“Just a beautiful swing, a beautiful approach,” Gerrit Cole said. “He’s a good hitter with a lot of power.”

Cole wanted a do-over.

“A great hitter with a lot of power,” the Yankees ace said.

DJ LeMahieu, a two-time batting champion who grew up in the Detroit area rooting for the Tigers, said the fact Cabrera “could hit for power and average” always stood out.

Cabrera, who spent the first five years of his career with the Florida Marlins and the last 16 with Detroit, entered Monday with a .307 career batting average, 510 home runs, 1,871 RBIs and a .902 OPS.

“Drives guys in, can hit the long ball,” LeMahieu added. “He’s one of the best hitters I’ve seen. I liked watching him as a fan, and then playing against him is, personally, pretty special.”

For that reason, since his Rookie of the Year season in 2017, Aaron Judge has always mentioned Cabrera as one of the righthanded hitters he admired and wanted to pattern himself after. He views Cabrera as a “a complete hitter.”

The Yankees, who opened a four-game series at Comerica Park on Monday night, will see Cabrera seven times in 11 days (the Tigers will play at Yankee Stadium Sept. 5-7).

“Genius. I think the smartest hitter I ever got to play with,” said Aaron Boone, who was a teammate of Cabrera’s with the Marlins in 2007. “I loved playing with him, I learned a lot playing with him. When he gets in that box, he’s a genius. He is such a smart hitter.”

Cole, who is slated to start here on Wednesday night, is a bulldog competitor who speaks often about “the craft” of pitching. But the righthander also has an appreciation for the top practitioners of those whose craft involves trying to beat him with a bat in their hands.

He has spoken highly over the years of, among others and in no particular order, Judge, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and, yes, Cabrera.

“His ability to spoil great pitches, just outwork you,” Cole said of the challenge of facing Cabrera, a 12-time All-Star, two-time MVP, four-time batting champion and 2012 AL Triple Crown winner. “His power to right-centerfield is just seared into your brain.”

Cole has had the upper hand against Cabrera, who is 5-for-23 with no homers in his career against him.

Both Cole and LeMahieu mentioned first taking note of Cabrera as a 20-year-old rookie with the 2003 Marlins, who beat the Chicago Cubs in a memorable seven-game National League Championship Series (think Steve Bartman and Game 6 at Wrigley) and then the Yankees in six games in the World Series.

“Obviously, some iconic moments at an impressionable age for me,” said Cole, who grew up a Yankees fan in Southern California and recalled watching the ’03 World Series and some of the elite Tigers teams Cabrera was a part of early in his career.

“And then being able to appreciate the magnitude of facing him in the major leagues. He’s very respectful. He’s always been a respectful player and a hard-nosed player. Justin speaks pretty glowingly about him as well.”

That would be Justin Verlander, a teammate of Cabrera’s in Detroit from 2008-17 and then a teammate of Cole’s with the Astros from 2017-19.

“Made sure that he capitalized on mistakes,” Cole said. “But there are hitters in this league that do a really good job of only capitalizing on mistakes. This guy hits good pitches, this guy defends good pitches and this guy just destroys bad pitches consistently.”

Cole paused.

“For like 20 years,” he added. “Incredible.”