Miguel Cabrera to get late start to season due to ankle injury

Miguel Cabrera might be getting a late start to the season after having surgery in October to remove bone spurs from his right ankle and repair a stress fracture in his foot.

Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press tweets that Cabrera is scheduled to wear a walking boot until at least mid-February. He adds that the two-time MVP won’t be ready for the start of spring training and his availability for opening day is currently questionable.

“His rehab has gone well. He’s in a partial weight-bearing stage, six weeks in a boot, which began just before Christmas,” Tigers head athletic trainer Kevin Rand told the Detroit News. “He’ll go back next month and hope the CT scan will show that everything’s well and that he can move into a full weight-bearing program.”

According to Rand, Cabrera’s injured teammates, shortstop Jose Iglesias and reliever Bruce Rondon, are progressing well and on track to join the team for spring training. Iglesias is recovering from a stress fractures in both his shins while Rondon missed all of 2014 after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

The Tigers have won the AL Central title four straight seasons, but the competition for the division crown will be fierce in 2015. The reigning AL champion Royals, retooled White Sox, and frisky Indians all want what Detrois has.

A healthy Cabrera, who has been banged up towards the end of the last two seasons, is crucial to the Tigers’ chances of claiming a fifth consecutive playoff berth.

With their divison rivals closing in, Detroit needs their star sluger in the lineup in September to help them get into October. The Tigers would be wise to be careful with Cabrera, even if it means he misses a handful of games in April.

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Israel Fehr is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr