How Edward Cabrera has turned into the best version of himself

[Sean McCormack]

Edward Cabrera entered this season with a lot to prove. From 2021-24, the talented flame-thrower had not been nearly as effective or available as the Marlins hoped he would be. Even 2025 started off on the wrong foot with an awful spring training and time missed due to a middle finger blister. About halfway through the season, however, it's safe to say that Cabrera is on track for a career year. Through 71 ⅓ innings, he has posted a 3.41 ERA and a career-low walk rate of 10.5%. 

There have been tangible changes to Cabrera's pitch usage, command, arm slot and extension, and pitch movement. The combination of these factors has helped him go on this run of unprecedented consistency. 

In 2025, Cabrera has evened out his arsenal compared to prior years, throwing his changeup, sinker, curveball, slider, and four-seam fastball each over 14% of the time. Compared to last season, he has cut his four-seam usage in half at the expense of more sinkers. Cabrera has also thrown the changeup less while upping his slider usage from 8% to 16%.

I believe due to being a natural supinator, Cabrera has always had better feel for his sinker compared to the four-seam fastball. His in-zone rate with the sinker has increased to 60.6%, up 30% from last season. He now has a weapon for getting in front of counts, allowing his offspeed to put away hitters with two strikes.

 

 

I believe the improved command for Cabrera stems from his new arm slot. His average arm angle from 2021-24 was 43 degrees, but that has dropped to 36 degrees this season. A higher slot generally pairs best with a pitcher who has a north-south approach and four-seam-heavy diet. He's now working more east-west. 

There's been a slight drop in Cabrera's extension, from 6.7 feet down the mound in 2024 to 6.5 feet in 2025. Although getting closer to the plate is generally a positive, releasing the ball earlier may be what he needed to do to throw more strikes than ever before.

The quality of Edward Cabrera's stuff has never been better. There's been an increase in spin rate on all of his pitches. Overall, his Stuff+ this season is 106, per FanGraphs (100 represents league average). Both his curveball and changeup grade out significantly better than they did in any previous season.

We are observing a career-high 50 inches of vertical drop on Cabrera's curveball. This has led to a crazy 42.2 CSW% on the pitch, putting it in the 95% percentile. The curve has a 40% whiff rate and it's responsible for finishing off more strikeouts than any of his other pitches. 

The whiff rate is even higher on Cabrera's slider (44.8%). He has yet to give up a barrel on the pitch and it has a impressive xwOBACON of .276, preventing damage even when opponents make contact.

Cabrera's signature changeup has not performed as well as prior seasons, but the emergence of his slider and curveball has helped compensate for that. 

The major weakness for Cabrera is still his four-seam fastball—xSLG of .696, .444 wOBA, and 68.0% Hard-Hit%.

Cabrera has tried leaning more on his sinker to change eye levels, but that pitch is far less optimal when thrown higher in the zone. The lack of velocity separation between his changeup and sinker also limits the upside those pitches have when paired with each other. Cabrera throws the hardest changeup on average in the big leagues at 93.8 mph, only a 2.8 mph dip from his average sinker. During certain sequences, there's no difference in velo whatsoever. Even though the pitches are thrown to different areas, the similarities in speed may be helping batters with their timing.

While there are still limitations to Cabrera's game, including the ability to control baserunners, he has emerged as a more complete pitcher at age 27. He is equally productive against left-handed and right-handed batters and putting himself in position to navigate his starts with better efficiency. He has solidified his spot in the Marlins rotation and made himself one of the most desirable starters on the trade market this month.

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