NEW YORK — Edward Cabrera’s seventh and final start this season with the Marlins ended earlier than anticipated at Citi Field.
The second-ranked prospect in the Marlins’ system and MLB’s No. 29 overall prospect according to MLB Pipeline was removed after three innings in Miami’s 12-3 loss to the New York Mets on Thursday due to a blister on his right middle finger.
Prior to leaving the game, though, Cabrera was in the midst of one of his better outings during his first stint in the big leagues.
Cabrera struck out six batters while giving up a pair of runs on two hits and two walks during his three innings.
The 23-year-old struck out five batters the first time through the Mets lineup, the only blemish through the first nine batters being a Pete Alonso solo home run in the second in which Alonso hit a curveball well below the strike zone a projected 383 feet to left.
The second run came in the third, when Michael Conforto’s two-out single to right scored James McCann, who walked.
Thursday is the second time he left a game due to injury. He was removed from his Sept. 12 start against the Atlanta Braves with a toe injury. Also remember: Cabrera missed all of spring training this year while dealing with right biceps nerve inflammation. He didn’t make his first minor-league start until June 6, just over a month after the minor-league season began.
On the season, Cabrera had a 5.81 ERA with 28 strikeouts against 19 walks and a .247 batting average against over 26 1/3 innings. Cabrera never pitched more than four innings in any of his final six starts after going 6 1/3 innings in his MLB debut on Aug. 25.
Not the numbers the Marlins or Cabrera were hoping to get from him by any means, but the Marlins are paying attention to more than just the numbers.
They’re watching to see how he responds to the struggles, what adjustments he makes to elevate his game, his preparation between starts.
“I think he’s just finding his way here,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “We talk so much about the younger pitchers as they come up with them making adjustments to the league. It’s just a better League. It’s more consistent. There’s better scouting reports. They understand what you do better. It’s just tougher.”
Mattingly on multiple occasions this season has compared Cabrera’s progress this year to how Trevor Rogers handled the 2020 season. Rogers was a midseason call up during the shortened 2020 season. He showed bright spots at times but pitched to a 6.11 ERA and had a .283 batting average against in seven starts and 28 innings — about the same amount of work that Cabrera had this season.
This year, Rogers was the Marlins’ lone representative for the All-Star Game and was the frontrunner for National League Rookie of the Year through the first half of the season before missing a month while tending to family medical issues.
“Even though he’s given up some runs and outings haven’t been great consistently,” Mattingly said, “you see this confidence in a kid that you can see him on the inside saying ‘I know I can pitch there. It’s just a matter of me making good pitches and me getting better and I’m gonna get there.’ ... That’s a great trait for a young pitcher.”
Another trait Mattingly likes about Cabrera: His consistency in his bullpen sessions and other work between starts.
“He does good work down there,” Mattingly said. “That’s where you see him being able to get the ball where he wants to. We know he can have command, understanding where his pitches work the best and things like that. His work is really good and a lot of times when you see that, you know it’s gonna eventually come on the field. You want to get to that. Obviously everybody looks at the result, but I think this is definitely one of those. With pitchers, I’ve watched it with Sandy [Alcantara], how that got better and better out there. Sometimes it didn’t transfer to the field and sometimes it did, but when you see it happen down there, you know it can happen, that you know it’s just a matter of time that it’s gonna translate to the field.”
