Miguel Cabrera is having a heck of a season. The Detroit first baseman has been spoken of as the potential first player since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 to win the MLB hitting Triple Crown, but a lack of power in recent weeks as well as some bad luck has stalled his efforts, if not completely derailed them. Cabrera will need to put together one of the best months in baseball history if he wants to earn the honor so many seemed to think he could achieve.

Cabrera leads all hitters with 110 RBI, four ahead of Jose Bautista, but Toronto’s unexpected longballer has a massive 11 home run lead. Cabrera’s 33 bombs place him second in the league. Cabrera hasn’t hit a home run since August 28, and only has two since August 20. Cabrera can get a hot bat – he did hit seven home runs between May 28 and June 5 – but chances are Cabrera will not surpass Bautista by season’s end.

As for batting average, Cabrera also finds himself in second place. His .333 average pales in comparison to Texas’ Josh Hamilton, who is hitting .361. It’s not an insurmountable means by any standards, but the fact that Hamilton is out indefinitely with a bruised ribcage until late September at the earliest means that his average will not drop any, so all of the work will be on Cabrera to raise his average, which can be really difficult at this point in the season.

The Tigers have fallen back in the AL Central, but that has nothing to do with Cabrera’s season. Now that talk about the Triple Crown has died down, speculation that he’ll finally win an MVP award has begun. Cabrera will get some votes for the AL winner and will probably pick up a silver slugger award, but winning the MVP award is far from a guarantee. His team is not in a playoff race, so if Cabrera wants to win top honors, he’ll have to have a month like no other.