Ausmus thinks Miggy will have back issues for 'the rest of his career'

Miguel Cabrera's ailing back may be more than a minor issue.

After the two-time MVP and one-time Triple Crown winner was held out of Tuesday's lineup because of lower back tightness, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus touched on the issue which has bothered Cabrera since the World Baseball Classic in March.

"Quite frankly, I think he’s going to have to deal with it the rest of his career," Ausmus told Lynn Henning of The Detroit News.

Cabrera, 34, strained his back during the WBC and hasn't appeared to recover during what's been the worst offensive season of his career.

Miggy, hitting just .253/.339/.406 in 113 games, didn't try to hide anything when asked if the injury was affecting his performance.

"You guys know I’ve been dealing with this all year," he said.

Ausmus, a catcher during his playing days, also had back issues late in his career, so he feels like he knows the signs. Ausmus underwent surgery for a herniated disk in 2010.

"It’s something he may have to deal with the remainder of his career," Ausmus explained. "Probably, it’ll come and go. What you don’t want to do is make yourself worse, or create a bad habit that impacts performance or creates another problem."

Cabrera still has six years and $184 million left on his contract, as the Tigers have struggled to a 57-74 mark this season.