Daniel Cabrera

by birdman on Feb 5, 2006 2:31 AM EST

I sent John Sickels an email to do a prospect retro on Cabrera and I saw he just posted a "young player review" piece about him. John is the man!

-------

Young Player Review: Daniel Cabrera

I wrote a piece about Daniel Cabrera last April.

Cabrera's K/IP ratio improved dramatically in 2005. He improved his K/9IP rate from 4.63 in 2004 to 8.76 in 2005, tremendous improvement. He also reduced his walk rate, from 5.42 BB/9IP in '04 to 4.85 in 2005. His hit rate dropped as well, resulting in an overall WHIP reduction from 1.58 to 1.43.

For all his improvement in the component ratios, Cabrera's overall relative performance actually slipped! His raw ERA improved from 5.00 to 4.52, but this is an illusion. His ERA relative to league norms actually got worse, his ERA+ dropping from 96 to 92.

So, what do we expect in 2006? Does Cabrera's ERA improve to match his sharper components? Do the components slip to match the ERA? Or does he maintain the status quo? Personally, I believe that Cabrera is a candidate for a breakout season in 2006, as long as he remains healthy. What do you guys think?

http://www.minorleagueball.com/story/2006/2/4/145318/9615

FanPosts are user-created content and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors of Camden Chat or SB Nation. They might, though.

Tweet Comment 8 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Re:

The community line had a bit of a breakout season, which I'd be happy to see.

GS IP ERA WHIP K BB HR 30 183 3.79 1.35 178 77 16

I still expect a breakout in 2007 after another year of learning. Cabrerea is my primary interest this year. Yes, I'm resigning myself to a 4th place finish, and hopefully no lower. Perhaps it's an ingrained defensive reaction after having watched the O's the past eight seasons, and this off season.

Anyhow, my one and only commitment to making a game this season is to find a ticket to Fenway if Cabrera comes up in the rotation against the BoSox.

"Mike will be absolutely in charge." Peter Angelos

by drj on Feb 6, 2006 7:05 PM EST reply actions

I'll join you.

Stubhub.com for sure. Or craigslist maybe....

by zknower on Feb 7, 2006 12:11 AM EST reply actions

The more the merrier

I went to an O's (Penn's debut) and Twins game last year. Since I want to see a particular pitcher, I can't buy tickets in advance. I've never used StubHub, and I'll have to pay attention how many tickets are available on a couple days notice.

My alternative is to get to there super early (4-5 hrs before the game) and hang out at gate C. Now that the ball players are taxed on allotted tickets, they return the unused tickets shortly before the series begins. Usually three of us go: O's, Twins, Red Sox (we all have our flaws) fans. It worked last year, and I don't know if the team will be more efficient in distributing those tickets this year.

Tickets are hard to come by now that the bandwagon is fully loaded. In comparison, in 2001 I was able to buy six tickets (two sets of three) to Cal's last Fenway appearance about 2 months before the game. That was the most orange I've ever seen in Fenway.

"Mike will be absolutely in charge." Peter Angelos

by drj on Feb 7, 2006 11:06 AM EST up reply actions

Fenway

On that point, the one O's game I saw at Fenway I was amazed at the amount of Orioles fans in the stadium. It wasn't quite as overwhelming as BoSox games at Camden Yards were last year...but at least a quarter of the stadium was cheering for Baltimore, if not more. My fondest memory of the day was walking up to the stadium and seeing a schoolbus full of Baltimorons pull up, who according to the signs on the bus had come all the way up from Maryland...right as they passed, the back emergency door comes open and one O's fan and an empty keg come falling out the back.

Fenway is a nice place to see a game for an O's fan, which is in stark contrast Yankee stadium, where the small amount of Orange you see is getting beaten up by thugfans.

by Jonnypops on Feb 7, 2006 12:30 PM EST up reply actions

Also...

Yankee stadium is just a horrible stadium period. Fenway is small, and at 5'5", even I find the leg room cramped, but its a great place to see a game. Yankee stadium on the other hand is just a dump.

I remember seeing an Os/Yanks double header there in September of 1996. The Os were nipping at the Yankees heels at the time(eventually they took the wild card). Anyway, people started seriously drinking during the first game and by the end of the second game, the place seemed like a very dangerous place for a guy with an Os cap. My future wife and I took off early after we started getting threatened. It was a real ugly scene. (Other times I went it wasn't nearly that bad). I've never had a problem at Fenway though.

by rebop on Feb 7, 2006 12:42 PM EST up reply actions

The last time...

...I went to a game at Yankee stadium was in 1997, also in September. That year the O's went on to take the division, and there was a heated penant race on.

It got brutal. It's always pretty easy to see an O's fan in orange in an away park...and I saw literally dozens of O's fans getting jumped. It's normal to see it happen out in the bleachers from the bleacher creatures, they have an ignorant reputation to uphold. But I saw a guy in orange with his girlfriend get the shit kicked out of him by at least twenty people while he was walking into one of the exit tunnels on the upper deck, less than 30 feet away from me. People were reaching over the railings on the side of the tunnel to sucker punch the guy. And the worst part was there were several cops standing right there and they let it go on for at least a minute, which is a long time when 20 guys are kicking your ass. I decided then I'm not going to anymore games at Yankee Stadium without either an army or box seats.

by Jonnypops on Feb 7, 2006 1:10 PM EST up reply actions

Whew!

That sounds much worse than anything I witnessed, but I'm not too surprised. I think the last time I went to Yankee Stadium was that game in '96. After that, I stuck to the more hospitable confines of Shea. I think I made the right decision in leaving that game early. It really felt like things were about to get out-of-hand in the manner you describe.

Of course Yankee fans only treat each other marginally better than that--I remember seeing lots of nasty fights between Yankee fans too.

by rebop on Feb 7, 2006 2:37 PM EST up reply actions

The Early Returns

To continue my Serie del Caribe coverage; Cabrera pitched a good game today for the Dominican team in a 3-1 victory over Mexico. Danny boy went 5 innings and gave up only 2 hits and 1 earned run. He struck out 5 and walked 2.

For full coverage of the Series you can check out the linked page on the MLB site.

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/events/mlb_winterleagues_2006.jsp

by Jonnypops on Feb 7, 2006 3:02 AM EST reply actions