The Yankees have a rising star in Oswaldo Cabrera and they must keep him playing. He is one of the most exciting players on the team and keeps getting better and better every night. Since the Yankees called up Oswaldo Cabrera, they are 24-14, and he has played well enough to be one of their most important position players in October.
With his performance, Oswaldo Cabrera has made a strong bid for himself on the Yankees’ roster. Now the New York team brass faces the question of where he should play, not whether they should have the rookie on their roster.
Since his MLB debut on August 17 this season, Oswaldo Cabrera has played in every position except for center field and catcher. His stats were above average in September and this makes a strong case to keep playing him.
Because of how he hits, he makes the lineup even stronger and gives the Yankees a platoon advantage because he can hit both left-handed and right-handed.
Oswaldo Cabrera’s versatility keeps him in the Yankees lineup
Everyone knows how good Oswaldo Cabrera is in the outfield. With a total of 7 DRS in the outfield, he is one of the best outfielders in terms of defense. This is because he has great range and a great arm. He’s still learning how to play in the left field. However, with getting more game exposure, the young player will get much better. Part of this faith comes from the fact that the 23-year-old has a strong arm and can make some great throws with a lot of speed.
Here are his statistics:
- 91.1 MPH Throw Velocity (ranking 38 of 362)
- 3.3 ARM (ranking 17 of 351)
- 4 rARM (ranking 10 of 351)
However, if the Yankees have Andrew Benintendi back on their roster, they must not push him to the corner outfield position. He presents a very good defensive option to the team.
Why not play Oswaldo Cabrera as a shortstop if Andrew Benintendi is able to make it back to the lineup soon?
The rookie can pick or throw balls similar to Isiah Kiner-Falefa. But Cabrera’s arm strength is much better than IKF’s. Because of his range and arm, he could be one of the best defensive shortstops in the league, and he also has a good defensive IQ.
This double play is a great example of how athletic and good with the arm the players are. Oswaldo Cabrera can not get only to the second base in time, but he can also rip a throw across in time to get Guerrero out. Kiner-Falefa is also not likely to make that throw, because he is one of the worst throwers at his position. His average throw speed is only 81.2 MPH (40th out of 49 shortstops), and he has never thrown faster than 86.0 MPH.
Oswaldo Cabrera is improving for the Yankees at bat
When Oswaldo Cabrera first came up, one of the biggest problems was how aggressive he was at the plate. Swing decisions are important to a player’s success. Swinging at pitches that can be hit gives you a better chance of getting hits while laying off pitches that are out of the strike zone leads to more walks, which raises your on-base percentage. In Cabrera’s first 21 games, he only walked 5% of the time because his O-Swing% was 43.2%. His numbers during that time were terrible.
- .187/.225/.253
- 34 wRC+
- .067 ISO
- 3.6% Barrel%
Oswaldo Cabrera was one of the worst everyday hitters in the sport, and one of the reasons for this is that he frequently swung at pitches that he shouldn’t have been swinging at. In his most recent 16 games, he has a 31.0% O-Swing%, which is a 12.2% drop from his previous mark. While this is still slightly lower than the average for the league, it reflects a more selective aggressiveness on his part. At the plate, he walks 13.8% of the time, so it would appear that he will choose when to be aggressive and when to stay passive depending on the situation. His numbers in those 16 games are significantly improved:
- .316/.409/.614
- 191 wRC+
- .298 ISO
- 10.0% Barrel%
Even though he had a not-so-good beginning to his career, Oswaldo Cabrera is currently sitting at a wRC+ of 105, which is 5% better than the average hitter in the league. This is due to the fact that he is making better swing decisions, which is allowing him to achieve greater results. If he is able to keep up this pace at the plate, he is going to be a significant contributor to this October push.
How do you rate Oswaldo Cabrera as a future Yankee?
