Apparently the only way to get Miguel Cabrera out of the lineup at third base was to break his face.

The Tigers slugger was diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture of the orbital floor underneath his right eye, and will be sidelined for a week for the swelling to go down before he can be re-evaluated, according to multiple reports out of Lakeland, Fla., on Tuesday.

His vision is not impaired.

“Thank God it is not worse,” Cabrera told reporters, according to the Detroit Free Press’ John Lowe.

Cabrera was struck in the face by a first-inning grounder off the bat of the Phillies’ Hunter Pence, after it took a bad hop on him. He immediately left the field under his own power, with trainer Kevin Rand helping stanch the bleeding with a towel. He was taken to a local Clearwater, Fla., hospital for testing.

Buster Olney of ESPN reported that Ramon Santiago had been urging Cabrera to wear sunglasses to see the ball better.

That urging may have saved Cabrera’s eye, even though the glasses were what caused the cut, which required eight stitches to close.

“I want to thank God I had glasses on,” Cabrera said, according to Olney, noting that he hopes to play opening day.

“His sunglasses helped him a lot. You could see the imprint of the ball on the glasses,” Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski said, according to Lowe. “We will know a lot more in a week.”

Tigers manager Jim Leyland joked Monday that Cabrera looked like a boxer who wasn’t doing too well in a fight, but the slugger said he didn’t feel any pain on Tuesday.

“I can take a punch. Or two or three,” he told MLive’s James Schmehl.