Miami Marlins demote Edward Cabrera

The Miami Marlins demoted starting pitcher Edward Cabrera to the Minor Leagues. This comes on the heels of The Fish heavily improving the lineup. Before you continue reading, make sure that you took a look at The Fish's draft history. Edward Cabrera is going back to the Minor Leagues. What went wrong? Will he be back this season?

The Miami Marlins sent starting pitcher Edward Cabrera to the Minor Leagues.

Edward Cabrera debuted for The Fish in 2021. He delivered a 5.81 ERA/6.63 FIP, with 9.6 K/9 and 6.5 BB/9 in 7 games and 26.1 innings pitched. The ERA and FIP were a nightmare, as was the walk rate, but the strikeout rate was elite. There was definite optimism and quite a bit of excitement of what his future could hold.

In 2022, Edward Cabrera followed that up with a breakout performance. This time he had a 3.01 ERA/4.59 FIP, with 9.4 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 in 14 games and 71.2 innings pitched. Once again the FIP was nothing special, and neither was his walk rate. That said, both stats went considerably down. The strikeouts declined but were still elite. The ERA however was so phenomenal that he looked like a potential future ace of the team.

2023 wasn't kind to the young pitcher. Cabrera has a 4.79 ERA/4.69 FIP, with 10.9 K/9 and 6.1 BB/9 in 17 games and 77.0 innings pitched. The walk rate is astoundingly bad, and the ERA now matches his FIP in a bad way. Only the strikeouts look promising. Elite even. It's obvious that Cabrera needs to improve his control. That should be his number one priority in his return to the Minor Leagues.

What happens now? Johnny Cueto fully steps into his spot in the rotation. Will Cabrera be back this season? I do see that happening at some point in September. I'm sure that he will be given a couple more starts at that point. What about his future? That's harder to say. If he can't fix his control issues, he might be converted to a relief pitcher. Another option is a "change of scenery" trade.