Daniel Cabrera Gets an 'F' for Frustrating

Calling Daniel Cabrera a pitcher is a formality. Although he stands atop the mound in the middle of a baseball diamond, a more apt term for the Baltimore Orioles right-hander is frustrating. 

With a blazing fastball that is the envy of most Major League pitchers and quality, if not filthy, secondary pitches, Cabrera has never produced an ERA below 4.50. Also, despite topping 200 innings only once, he has been in the top 3 in the American League for walks allowed in each of his 4 Major League seasons. 

If Cabrera had the tools but was consistently mediocre, it would be easy to write him off as being mentally unfit. However, he shows flashes of being a Hall-of-Famer. His magnum opus came in the 2006 season when he fell 2 outs short of throwing a no-hitter against the New York Yankees. 

These are the outings that keep the Orioles dreaming of him becoming an ace. When Cabrera walks 5 batters in 3 innings, like he did in a Spring Training start a few weeks ago against the St. Louis Cardinals, they awaken to the all too familiar odor of inconsistency. 

At 6’9”, Cabrera is blessed and cursed with size. In addition to being able to release the ball closer to the plate, his height enables him to throw the ball on a steeper downward plane that should generate a higher percentage of ground balls. However, tall pitchers have historically taken a long time to develop. 

Like Cabrera, Randy Johnson had trouble harnessing his “stuff” at the beginning of his career. In the 1991 and 1992 seasons, Randy Johnson hit 30 batters and threw 25 wild pitches while maintaining a solid but not outstanding ERA and WHIP. Suddenly, Johnson made the jump to elite. The next season, he cut his walks by 45 despite pitching 45 more innings. His ERA eventually fell below 3 and stayed there for 6 of 8 seasons. 

Cabrera will play most of the 2008 season at 27 years old, two years younger than the season when Randy Johnson received his first Cy Young votes. While such a sudden and drastic improvement cannot be predicted, do not blame the Orioles fan for hoping such a metamorphosis occurs.

Unfortunately, such a change is unlikely this year. While attempting to provide the best personnel, the Orioles have actually hurt Cabrera’s development by hiring 4 different pitching coaches. Unlike school where a variety of perspectives can lead to a greater understanding, the Orioles should practice what they are trying to teach Cabrera, consistency. 

In his attempt to harness his massive skill, 4 people have tweaked Cabrera’s wind-up and undone what the previous coach created. It is conventional wisdom that a pitching coach needs to work with players for more than a season to produce results; it takes time for a bond to be established and new mechanics to become fluid.

Based on his age and the change of personnel, Cabrera will provide more of the same for the 2008 season. That means the Orioles will be uttering that dirty ‘F’ word when Cabrera steps on the mound as a thrower.