Edward

Cabrera

Cabrera did issue five walks on the afternoon while striking out four opposing hitters. The lone hit was a very catchable leadoff double to CJ Kayfus in the sixth inning that Michael Conforto got a bad read on in right field. Unfortunately for Cabrera and fantasy managers, the Cubs were unable to scratch out a single run of support for him. He got 10 whiffs on 97 pitches on the day, registering a CSW of 23 percent. He has been brilliant through his first two starts with the Cubs, hurling 11 2/3 shutout innings with a 0.69 WHIP and a 9/6 K/BB ratio. He’ll look to keep the good times rolling when he takes on the Pirates at home on Saturday.

Cabrera was staked to a six-run advantage by the fourth inning of his Cubs debut and had little trouble cruising to an easy win, scattering one hit and one walk over six relatively stress-free frames. Chicago’s big-time offseason trade acquisition generated 15 swinging strikes, topped out at 98.1 mph with his fastball and allowed just two hard-hit balls in this one. He’ll close out a two-start week with a favorable road tilt against the Guardians.

Cabrera’s mostly excellent spring ends on a sour note after coughing up seven hits, including three home runs, on a 91-degree afternoon in the Arizona desert. He struck out three and issued a pair of walks. Fortunately, the results don’t matter here. The 27-year-old will make his Cubs debut this weekend with an extremely favorable home matchup against the Nationals.

The bottom of the first opened right away with a Matt Shaw error, leading to an unearned run. Cabrera sustained no additional damage through the second, but he gave up three runs in a third inning in which he was pulled with two outs and then four more while getting just one out in the fourth. The good news is that Cabrera walked only one. The bad is that his fastball averaged just 95.5 mph, down from 96.6 mph in his first three spring starts and 97.0 mph last year. His sinkers were closer to normal, averaging 96.8 mph, but his changeups were off by 1.8 mph from last year. Hopefully, it’s not a sign that something is wrong with the oft-injured right-hander.

Cabrera gave up nine hard-hit balls today, but only two of those went for hits. He also gave up a couple of soft singles. He’s allowed one run and posted an 8/1 K/BB in 8 1/3 innings over his three outings. One imagines the Dominican Republic would have loved to have him available this weekend.

Cabrera scattered two hits and one walk while finishing with a pair of strikeouts. The 27-year-old righty came over from the Marlins in an offseason trade and should be a borderline top-50 starting pitcher in fantasy drafts this spring.

Cabrera had a 25.07 ERA in four starts last spring before opening the season on the IL with a blister, so things are already off to a better start here. His velocities today were on par with his 2025 numbers, and he allowed just one hard-hit ball to the three batters who made contact.

The Cubs weren’t going to fight it out with their newly acquired right-hander, so he’ll get a $2.5 million raise in his second of four arbitration seasons. Cabrera had a 3.53 ERA in 26 starts for the Marlins last season.

Cabrera, who has three years left before free agency, looked like he turned the corner after making mechanical adjustments last season, though he did miss time down the stretch with another arm issue. The 27-year-old’s 144 2/3 innings (including two rehab starts) were easily a career high in his nine seasons in the Marlins organization. The Cubs are hoping he’s the kind of pitcher who gets healthier with age, but we’ll see. He’d seem to finish off a rotation that will also include Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon and Cade Horton, with Justin Steele expected back in June or July. Colin Rea is now due to open up in middle relief, though that was also the case at this time last year (he went on to make 27 starts). Caissie’s departure leaves Moisés Ballesteros as the now obvious Kyle Tucker replacement, with Seiya Suzuki shifting from DH to right field, but it also could make it more likely that they’ll add a bat.

Cabrera’s name has been floated in trade rumors for a while now, and it seemed like something was close between the Marlins and Yankees; however, the 27-year-old, who has three more years of team control, will apparently be traded to the Cubs instead, as long as everybody passes their physical. Cabrera re-invented himself a bit last season, swapping out his four-seam fastball for a sinker that he could command much better. That led to a 3.53 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, and a 150/48 K/BB ratio over 137 2/3 innings in 26 starts. There’s a possibility that the Cubs could get even more out of him, but he will immediately slot in as the third or fourth starting pitcher behind Shota Imanaga, Cade Horton, and Matthew Boyd. The Cubs should also get Justin Steele (elbow) back at some point before the summer, which will make this rotation even deeper.