Braves right-hander Mauricio Cabrera arrived in the major leagues three weeks ago with the buzz of a fastball that tops 100 mph, but with shaky control.
Cabrera’s fastball has been as powerful as advertised — it hit 103.2 mph on a pitch against the Reds on Monday, according to Pitch f/x. MLB Statcast rates his average fastball velocity of 100.6 as the highest in the majors, just ahead of Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman. Cabrera’s control has been better than it was in the minor leagues, too.
Perhaps more promising for the 22-year old reliever is that he’s lately shown off a sharp and effective slider.
“When I came here, I was throwing the fastball down in the zone,” Cabrera said through an interpreter. “Now I’ve been working for the last week on the slider. I feel really comfortable about it.”
Entering Tuesday, Pitch f/x tracking data showed Cabrera had thrown 35 sliders, with 22 for strikes. In 11 plate appearances batters had no hits against the slider, with two strikeouts and one walk.
Cabrera entered Tuesday with seven scoreless outings in nine appearances since the Braves promoted him from Double-A Mississippi. He hadn’t allowed an extra-base hit and posted a 2.16 ERA with three walks in 8 1/3 innings.
The sample size is very small, but he’s well below the walk rate of five per nine innings over six seasons in the minor leagues.
“He’s a young kid who’s going to continue to grow and get better,” Braves interim manager Brian Snitker said. “When you are toting 100-something (mph) around, it’s a pretty good weapon. He’s got a good feel for the breaking ball, too. Sometimes when guys throw (hard) like that, that comes down the road. That’s good to see that.”
Cabrera has pitched well in some tight situations for the Braves. He inherited a total of nine runners in his first nine appearances and allowed just one to score — and that came during his big-league debut against the Indians on June 27.
Cabrera always can fall back on his superlative fastball, but he said he’s learned that even throwing as hard as he does isn’t enough.
“I have to throw the ball down in the zone because there are good hitters here,” he said.
