Cabrera continues to trend upward, bats bust slumps in rainy win

Up and down. Highs and lows. Peaks and valleys. A rollercoaster of emotions. Whatever your choice phrase, Friday night’s game summed up the Marlins’ season so far perfectly. Edward Cabrera continued to improve before leaving injured (again), more than a few position players busted out of cold spells and the bullpen held off a hard-charging Washington team in a rain-soaked Marlins win at Nationals Park.

Cabrera took the ball for the 11th time this season, coming off a very impressive three-game stretch in which he held down a 0.59 ERA and 1.84 FIP. His command dramatically improved as he was in the zone 52% of the time. Cabrera started to build on those results immediately as he promptly struck out the side on his first inning of work. He then got around a walk and a hit by pitch in the second and retired his first hitter of the third. By once again getting ahead with first pitch strikes then changing eye levels with his breaking stuff, Cabrera was cruising along very smoothly.

Then things changed dramatically when CJ Abrams grounded a ball softly to first base. Attempting to cover the bag, Cabrera got tangled up with Eric Wagaman and came up lame. He stayed in the game but promptly gave up a two-run home run to James Wood and another walk to Nate Lowe. Cabrera finished the inning but did not re-enter.

“Ankle contusion,” McCullough said of the incident. “A little bit of congestion around the bag with that play. The lower half and the ankle with pushing off we felt it was in his best interest at that time to not keep going right there. We will be in a good spot for his next start.”

Thanks in large part to a 73.8% first pitch strike percentage and overall 51.2% zone rate, Cabrera will roll into that outing with a lowly 11.3% walk rate over his last four starts.

While the news came out good in the end for Cabrera, it marked the 20th time already this season a Marlins starter failed to make it into the fifth inning and it was once again up to Clayton McCullough to piece together the rest of the game. Whatever plan McCullough had planned for this situation quickly had a wrench thrown in it as after just 0.2 innings worth of Tyler Phillips, a lengthy rain delay ensued. Upon restart, McCullough went with lefty Cade Gibson. It wound up being a great decision as Gibson once again impressed. He finished the 4th inning and threw a scoreless 5th allowing just two hits while striking out two. After not even being invited to spring training and barely pitching at the Triple-A level, Gibson now boasts a lowly 0.93 ERA in 19.1 MLB innings.

“It was a lefty heavy lineup today. Phillips only got a couple outs before the rain but because of where it was there, the bottom wrapping around the the top with Cade,” McCullough said of his managerial strategy. “From there, we were just trying to go with outs and putting guys in spots we thought was the best matchup for them.”

After Gibson, Valente Bellozo and Anthony Veneziano let up a combined six runs, but the Marlins’ offense was able to hand Calvin Faucher a two-run lead in the ninth. He earned his sixth save of the season.

At 0 for his last 18, it’s clear the league had started to adjust to Agustín Ramirez. By throwing the rookie away much more often, he had become a much more manageable at-bat for opposing pitchers. Ramirez put an end to that in emphatic fashion. On the second pitch he saw on the night, after laying off a fastball up, Ramirez went down and got a 94 mph four seamer just which just barely clipped the inside corner. He wasn’t done. After falling behind 0-2 in his next at-bat, Ramirez drew the count back even and made Mitchell Parker serve up an 85 mph splitter directly down the heart of the plate. Ramirez didn’t miss it. In fact, he got every stitch and then some sending a majestic 447-foot blast into the night. It’s the longest home run by a Marlins player since Jesús Sánchez’s 480-footer last season.

Ramirez, who went 3-for-5, is now up to 10 home runs in his first 44 games. He is the fastest Marlins rookie to reach that mark. Previously, Giancarlo Stanton hit his 10th home run in his 47th career game.

“He’s had a terrific year. With how well he’s performed and certainly for him to take a low fastball in that first at-bat and put a great swing on it. And I think that other one was a secondary perch that he elevated,” McCullough said. “Good to see him put swings like that on, elevate to the pull side and then he had another knock up the middle staying inside.”

Ramirez wasn’t the only Marlin in a slump-busting mood. Kyle Stowers entered the night 5 for his last 46. He went 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored. Xavier Edwards, who came into the night mired in a 2-for-16 mini slump, went 3-for-5 with an RBI, a run, and a walk. Eric Wagaman, who was 4 for his last 21, recorded the eventual game winning hit, a two run single.

The series resumes in Washington Saturday afternoon. It will be a presumed bullpen game for Miami as they face off against former Marlin Trevor Williams.