Amid trade rumors, Cabrera delivering on sky-high potential

MIAMI -- For years, the baseball world has been waiting on this version of Marlins right-hander Edward Cabrera.

Some had written him off. Others believed they could fix him. The rest are waiting for him to revert to his pre-2025 form.

Over the past two months, Cabrera has blossomed into one of the National League’s more reliable pitchers. In his second-half debut, he struck out six batters and limited the Padres to one run over 5 2/3 innings in Tuesday night’s 4-3 win at loanDepot park.

“I learned,” Cabrera said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “A lot of people go through very difficult moments and they just put their head down. So what I can say is that I have learned from all those bad moments I went through.”

Cabrera, who has been the subject of trade rumors, went 10 days between outings due to exiting his July 11 start after four frames with posterior right elbow discomfort. Miami gave him additional time to recover by slotting him into the fifth game following the All-Star break.

“I was not worried at all because I trust in myself, and I know I'm coming back,” Cabrera said.

After working a perfect first inning on eight pitches, Cabrera stranded runners on the corners in the second by striking out Jose Iglesias on a curveball. San Diego broke through with its lone run against Cabrera in the third when he allowed a leadoff double to Martín Maldonado, threw a wild pitch and coughed up an RBI single to former teammate Luis Arraez.

In the sixth, with runners on the corners and one out, Cabrera aggressively pursued a slow comebacker off the bat of Xander Bogaerts and shoveled a barehanded throw home, where catcher Agustín Ramírez tagged out Arraez. That would be it for Cabrera, who gave way to southpaw Cade Gibson. The left-handed-hitting Jackson Merrill would ground out to end the threat.

“He had swing and miss with multiple offerings, really crisp with his breaking pitches, threw some really good changeups as well,” manager Clayton McCullough said.

“Overall, looking at that entire outing, him and Gus did a really nice job of using his full mix. And again, another outing of no walks and getting into the sixth inning. So there's another good start from Cabby. I think now we've just come to expect him to pitch in that type of manner, and to go deep into a game and give us a real shot to win.”

With his latest gem, here is where Cabrera ranks among 56 qualifying National League pitchers (min. 40 innings) since May 25:
ERA: 2.18 (fourth)
WHIP: 1.08 (14th)
K%: 27.1 (11th)
BB%: 7.3 (30th)
Opp. BA: .215 (14th)
K’s: 59 (T-14th)

As a result, the 27-year-old Cabrera has been one of the names most frequently mentioned in rumors ahead of the July 31 Trade Deadline. Not only is he affordable ($1.95 million salary in 2025) and under club control through 2028, but he also is experiencing a long-awaited breakout season.

“I try not to think about it,” Cabrera said. “At the end of the day, it's something that is completely out of my control, so there's no point of thinking too much about it.”

For so long, a combination of inconsistency and injuries have set back the flamethrowing Cabrera, once a top pitching prospect, from realizing his potential.

Last season, Cabrera led Major League pitchers (min. 90 innings) with a 4.67 BB/9 rate. In 2023, Miami even demoted him to Triple-A Jacksonville during the postseason chase because of an inability to throw strikes. Cabrera has been sidelined with right elbow tendinitis (2022), a right shoulder impingement (‘23-24) and a recurring blister on his right middle finger, which most recently resurfaced during Spring Training and prevented him from making the Opening Day rotation.

But Cabrera has seemingly put it together. He has walked only 19 in his past 13 starts, his fewest free passes in any 13-game span in his career. On Tuesday, Cabrera heavily featured a hard curveball, followed by his slider and a 97 mph changeup -- the third fastest of his career.

“I saw it on the iPad," Ramírez said. "It's nasty.”

Cabrera is finally pitching like the MLB The Show card that had gamers enamored before he debuted. Is there still another gear he can reach?

"I don't know,” Cabrera said. “I just want to keep pitching the way I'm pitching right now, and [I'm going to] go out there, do my best, get good results and let those results speak for itself.”