Edward Cabrera Shines in Best Start of 2025 as Marlins Blank Angels

Edward Cabrera may have finally turned a corner. On Sunday afternoon in Anaheim, the 27-year-old right-hander delivered his sharpest outing of the season—and possibly his best since last September—leading the Miami Marlins to a 3-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.

Cabrera tossed 5.2 scoreless innings, allowing only three hits and two walks while racking up 10 strikeouts. He leaned heavily on his fastball-curveball combo, baffling Angels hitters who chased out of the zone and struggled with his mid-to-upper 90s changeup. It was a welcoming sight for Miami, which has seen Cabrera flash elite potential but struggle at times with command and consistency.

Sunday's start wasn't just another quality outing–it was Cabrera's most dominant performance since his seven-inning gem against the Philadelphia Phillies on September 8, 2024. In that game, Cabrera surrendered just three hits and one walk while striking out six over seven innings. This time, he only needed 5.2 innings to surpass that strikeout total, fanning 10 for just the third time in his MLB career.

The Angels never really mounted a serious threat either. Cabrera was in control early, striking out five batters in the first three innings and mixing in plenty of swing-and-miss stuff. During his last outing against the Chicago Cubs, he got hit around a little bit, but fans and experts saw how much better his command was, and everyone knew that a start of this caliber would be right around the corner.

Cabrera exited with two outs in the sixth after back-to-back runners reached base, but the bullpen slammed the door shut for the rest of the ballgame.

Anthony Bender recorded the final out of the sixth inning and followed it up with a clean seventh. Calvin Faucher kept things rolling with a scoreless eighth, and Ronny Henriquez shut the door in the ninth to earn his first career save. Acquired in the offseason, Henriquez impressed by attacking the strike zone and striking out two of the Angels’ top hitters—Taylor Ward and Jorge Soler—to seal Miami’s second straight win.

The Marlins' offense gave Cabrera just enough support, delivering timely hits and taking advantage of key scoring opportunities. Rookie second baseman Javier Sanoja led the charge with two hits, including a sacrifice fly in the third inning that put Miami on the board. Connor Norby followed with an RBI single, and in the fifth inning, Jesus Sanchez drove an RBI double into right-center field to extend the lead to 3-0.

Los Angeles had been one of the hottest teams in baseball, riding an 8-2 record in their last 10 games before Sunday's loss. Taylor Ward's franchise-record streak of 10 straight games with an extra-base hit also came to an end, a testament to just how effectively Cabrera and the Marlins' arms neutralized the Angels' attack.

Cabrera's Best Since 2024 Shows What He's Capable Of

It's easy to forget, amid the injuries and the inconsistency, that Cabrera still possesses frontline starter potential. Starts like Sunday's remind fans and the Marlins organization why they've been so patient with his development. He now owns a 2.53 ERA across four starts in May, and if his command continues to develop, he could easily become a piece that Miami will elect to deal at the deadline (or someone that the Marlins try and build around for the future).

Miami still has a long way to go in 2025, but if Cabrera continues to pitch like this, they'll have a building block to lean on, both for this season and the future.