Daniel Cabrera: 2021 rotation improvement

[interloper]

16 hours ago, Yossarian said:

there are probably a bunch of pitchers that came and went through Baltimore when we were looking for those "studs" and we moved along from that would be in the top 2 on this staff.  Guys like Jeremy Guthrie (average about 190 innings pitched per year and his worst ERA in Baltimore was 5.04 and best was 3.63), Alfredo Simon, Brad Bergesen, and even Sidney Ponson (he never had an ERA above 5 for Balitmore).

We didn't know how good we had it back then.  

I'm saying! We had some downright usable pitchers in the dark ages. Of course the big difference is that while the O's lost less then than they are now, the organization was a trash fire of mismanagement, bad contracts, poor development, and misguided thought that set up the organization for 15 years of abject failure. 

But would I take D-Cab in this rotation right now over, say, Harvey? Absolutely!

[Moose Milligan]

I can't remember what year it was, but there was a stretch where it looked like he was putting it all together. 

When he was on, he looked great.  Unfortunately he was usually walking too many batters.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

54 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

I can't remember what year it was, but there was a stretch where it looked like he was putting it all together. 

When he was on, he looked great.  Unfortunately he was usually walking too many batters.

Cabrera's rookie season in 2004 he was 6-3 with a 2.90 ERA and 1.210 WHIP in the first half of the season. The second half of 2004 his ERA was 7.33 with a 2.000 WHIP. Somehow Cabrera still managed to go 6-5 after the all star game. 

[beervendor]

13 hours ago, byrdz said:

Too bad he couldn’t put it all together as he seemed like a good kid. I was thinking he might be the tallest pitcher the Orioles ever had but in searching I found Tyler Wells is also 6’-8”. 

Off the top of my head, Mark Hendrickson? (Looked him up - he's listed at 6'9")

EDIT: Mark was drafted in SIX CONSECUTIVE MLB drafts from 92-97. That seems like it must be some kind of record. per bbref

Draft: Drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 13th round of the 1992 MLB June Amateur Draft from Mount Vernon HS (Mount Vernon, WA),

the San Diego Padres in the 21st round of the 1993 MLB June Amateur Draft from Washington State University (Pullman, WA),

the Atlanta Braves in the 32nd round of the 1994 MLB June Amateur Draft from Washington State University (Pullman, WA),

the Detroit Tigers in the 16th round of the 1995 MLB June Amateur Draft from Washington State University (Pullman, WA),

the Texas Rangers in the 19th round of the 1996 MLB June Amateur Draft from Washington State University (Pullman, WA) and

the Toronto Blue Jays in the 20th round of the 1997 MLB June Amateur Draft.

Edited July 15, 2021 by beervendor
added link & info

[O's84]

I remember Cabrera almost pitched a no hitter to the Yankees(?).  Yankees got their 1st hit in the 9th with 1 out.  He induced a DP next, so he pitched to the minimum.  Anyway that was a fond memory.  Of course he sucked most of the time.  I also remember he might have been one of the worst defensive pitchers of all time.

[DrungoHazewood]

1 minute ago, O's84 said:

I remember Cabrera almost pitched a no hitter to the Yankees(?).  Yankees got their 1st hit in the 9th with 1 out.  He induced a DP next, so he pitched to the minimum.  Anyway that was a fond memory.  Of course he sucked most of the time.  I also remember he might have been one of the worst defense pitchers of all time.

He is also on the very, very shortlist for worst hitter in the history of professional baseball.  If you include his time in the minors and Japan he was 1-for-106 (.009) with 97 strikeouts.  

There has to be a good analytical study in the fact that he had nine walks and a HPB in there.  Which kind of implies that me, or you, or Willard Scott, or Stevie Wonder would have an OPS around .100 if only someone would give us a chance.

Sometimes on social media there will be a conversation about whether or not a random person could make contact off Jacob deGrom or something.  Daniel Cabrera was an actual Major League pitcher who presumably took batting practice, and grew up hitting, and he went 1-for-106 with 97 Ks against pitchers mostly a lot worse than Jacob deGrom.  

[interloper]

12 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

He is also on the very, very shortlist for worst hitter in the history of professional baseball.  If you include his time in the minors and Japan he was 1-for-106 (.009) with 97 strikeouts.  

There has to be a good analytical study in the fact that he had nine walks and a HPB in there.  Which kind of implies that me, or you, or Willard Scott, or Stevie Wonder would have an OPS around .100 if only someone would give us a chance.

Sometimes on social media there will be a conversation about whether or not a random person could make contact off Jacob deGrom or something.  Daniel Cabrera was an actual Major League pitcher who presumably took batting practice, and grew up hitting, and he went 1-for-106 with 97 Ks against pitchers mostly a lot worse than Jacob deGrom.  

I seem to recall he would purposefully just stand there until strike 3 was called. Probably on behest of the manager.

[DrungoHazewood]

2 minutes ago, interloper said:

I seem to recall he would purposefully just stand there until strike 3 was called. Probably on behest of the manager.

When I used to play church softball we had a not terribly athletic 14-year-old girl who would play second base and we'd get into tactical discussions about whether it was better for her to take every pitch and hope for a walk, or swing and hope the resulting dribble back to the mound got thrown down the LF line.