Daniel Cabrera -- Going-Back-In Party?

by Yakker on Apr 15, 2007 1:52 PM EDT

I kid, because I love. After two excellent starts to begin the year, Cabrera looked a little shaky yesterday against Kansas City, giving up 3 ERs and 7 hits in just 5 innings. He did, however, continue his progress in the K/BB department, issuing only one free pass against 5 strikeouts.

I watched part of the game, and Cabrera didn't look too bad. It was cold and drizzly, and it's possible that affected him, but mostly I think the Royals came in with a plan to swing at the first straight thing they saw.

I know others have been interested to see how he would do in less-than-ideal situations, and a 5 IP, 3 ER performance, though not great, certainly isn't the kind of blow-up we've seen in the past.

Any Cabrera-watchers see yesterday's game and have any additional thoughts?

(And yes, he was just dropped in my fantasy league, but that's not the reason for the diary.)

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going back in?

He allowed bloop hits and broke about 3 bats yesterday.

1 walk and 5 strikeouts in 5 innings is all you need to know about his outing.

And even if he did have a poor outing, why are we looking at every single outing of his with such scrutiny?

He had the highest walk rate of his career by far last year and all signs point to it being a complete meltdown and anomaly more than it being a trend. Every single one of his other rate stats has gotten better each year.

If you put 2 and 2 together, it's realistic to expect him to have a much better year just by returning to his career norm in BB/9. What he's shown is an improvement over his career norm, which means he could be a top pitcher in the AL this year.

19 innings pitched, 5 walks, 0 home runs allowed.... what more can you want from a pitcher who supposedly struggles with command and control?

And I saw most of the game yesterday. He was overpowering for most of his 5 innings, but the Royals strung a few hits together in the first inning as he left a couple of pitches in the middle of the plate. After he settled down and started to hit his spots, the Royals looked overmatched.

Rays in '08....

by youALREADYknow on Apr 15, 2007 2:08 PM EDT reply actions

he also

Hit two guys. I think we should factor that into the "wildness" category.

Still I'm impressed so far, but he's had stretches were he's seemingly found some control and then reverted back to wildness. If he keeps this up for a few more starts im going to start getting really excited.

by Team Moneyball on Apr 15, 2007 2:20 PM EDT reply actions

2 HBP

If you watch again Dejesus faked getting hit. The ball clearly missed his foot by a few inches. Good acting by Dejesus, but also the umpiring was horrible last night. The left corner strike seemed to be in his blind spot all night (the one BB he issued looked like strike three to me).

Cabrera didn't have his good stuff (topping out at 94-95 instead of his usual 97-98) and as was mentioned, the Royal's plan of swinging at the first straight thing over the plate was effective for them partly due to a shaky defense. Combine that he was pitching on a cold rainy night and I was pretty satisfied by his performance. It's also worth noting that out of the 15 outs he recorded all were either on ground balls or strike outs.

by Harold Baines on Apr 15, 2007 4:41 PM EDT up reply actions

I think

94/95 is pretty much the norm for D-Cab lately. I've watched his other outings and although he still gets it up to 97 occasionally, it seems this year his FB been sitting at 94/95. That's probably why his walk rate is lower.

Smells like Leo.

by dombonny on Apr 15, 2007 5:54 PM EDT up reply actions

That's nasty

by slurve on Apr 15, 2007 5:54 PM EDT up reply actions

It's also possible..

...the gun's slow. I remember seeing Ray blow a few 89 mph fastballs by hitters.

by Harold Baines on Apr 15, 2007 11:04 PM EDT up reply actions

It's never

a smooth/straight-line ascent - for any pitcher. There will be dips, but the overall trend looks like it's going to continue in a positive manner to me.

I also saw that he has PECOTA's 3rd best "breakout" percentage for this year. So far it looks like he's doing his part to justify it.

by slurve on Apr 15, 2007 2:50 PM EDT reply actions

Radar gun

The radar gun at Camden Yards was about 3-4 mph off last night. Chris Ray usually sits in the 94-95 range and the stadium gun had him at 89-91 most of the time. Cabrera was mostly around 92-94 last night when he was 96-98 on Monday. He might have also been slower because he threw 122 pitches on Monday.

And too clear up some other misconceptions, Cabrera does not throw a straight FB...he has plenty of movement on it and throws on a drastic downward plane. Also Dejesus didn't get hit...so only 1 hit batter.

by stwright @ Minor League Ball on Apr 15, 2007 6:55 PM EDT reply actions