Miami Marlins: Get to Know No. 2 Prospect RHP Edward Cabrera

Despite the Miami Marlins current on-field struggles, there is massive hype surrounding Wednesday night’s meeting between the Marlins and Nationals at loanDepot Park. Why you ask? The major league debut of one of the top pitching prospects in baseball.

The Nationals will be sending No. 3 prospect Josiah Gray to the mound, but opposing him will be Marlins No. 2 prospect Edward Cabrera. Making his major league debut, Cabrera is considered as Miami’s top pitching prospect, as well as one of the top young arms in the game.

Hype surrounding the big league debut of Cabrera has been building for over a year, as the 23-year-old would’ve most-likely made his debut last season if it wasn’t for an injury. Regardless, we’ve now officially made it to one of the most anticipated Marlins prospect debuts in recent years.

Get to Know Miami Marlins No. 2 prospect Edward Cabrera

Originally signed by the Marlins as a free agent back in 2015 out of the Dominican Republic, Cabrera initially burst onto the scene posting a 4.21 ERA in Rookie Ball with the GCL Marlins as an 18-year-old.

After throwing 47 innings during the 2016 season, Cabrera reached Low-A in 2017 where he struggled posting a 5.30 ERA in 35.2 innings pitched. Splitting time as a starter and reliever, it was clear that Cabrera would potentially be better long-term in the rotation which is where he would stay in 2018.

Spending the entire 2018 season in High-A, Cabrera would pitch the largest single-season sample size of his young career where he posted a 4.22 ERA across 22 starts. While the then 20-year-old had showed flashes at times across the previous three seasons, Cabrera took the next-step during the 2019 campaign.

Emerging as no-doubt one of Miami’s top pitching prospects, Cabrera enjoyed a breakout and downright dominant 2019 season. Beginning the year in High-A, Cabrera made 11 starts down in Jupiter posting a 2.02 ERA with 73 strikeouts compared to 18 walks across 58 innings pitched.

Reaching Double-A mid-way through the season, Cabrera would make eight starts for the Jumbo Shrimp. Across those eight outings, the right-hander would post a 4-1 record with a 2.56 ERA bringing his combined 2019 season ERA to 2.23 across 19 combined starts between the two levels.

With no 2020 minor league season, Cabrera obviously didn’t see action, but was a candidate to debut a year ago before an injury halted those potential plans. Fast forward to this season and Cabrera has posted a combined 2.93 ERA across three different levels confirming that the 23-year-old is big league ready right now.

In fact, Cabrera is projected to be a massive part of the Marlins future rotational plans, and you don’t have to look very far to see why.

The 6’5 right-hander’s best pitch is 100% his electric fastball which consistently flirts with triple digits. Cabrera also displays an above-average slider and changeup, all of which he has shown the ability to locate and induce ground balls on a consistent basis.

A career 9.5 K/9 throughout the minor leagues, Cabrera has big-time strikeout potential. Despite some command concerns at times, the right-hander has improved in those areas in recent years leaving Cabrera a prime candidate to remain in the rotation.

The major league debut of Cabrera on Wednesday night will be yet another highly-touted Miami Marlins pitching prospect debut, the biggest since Sixto Sanchez a year ago. Rated as the No. 30 overall prospect in baseball, we will get a glimpse Wednesday night of why Cabrera is considered a mainstay in the Marlins rotation for years to come.