Is time running out for Cabrera?
Last season, he led the American League in losses, walks and earned runs allowed. Add to that trifecta, he had the second-worst ERA (5.55) in the league.
Numbers like that might send some pitchers to another line of work, or at least, to the minor leagues.
But here is Daniel Cabrera, the owner of all those poor numbers, about to begin a 5th season in the O's rotation. He's getting another chance with the club. It's not a second chance, more like a third or fourth.
Cabrera is having trouble again throwing strikes and no Orioles' fan is suprised. There surely will come a time when if potential doesn't begin to translate into performance, that Cabrera will run out of chances. At least with this organization.
But right now, the O's are doing the only thing they can with Cabrera. Give him the ball every 5th day and hope something eventually clicks and he begins to find homeplate more often. With a rebuilding club there's no reason not to keep sending Cabrera out there.
However, after 116 Baltimore starts, and with an ERA on the rise the last three seasons, soon there will be another young hotshot pushing for a spot in the O's rotation. When that time comes, a still struggling Cabrera will be pushed aside - to the pen or the minors.
In the final analysis, maybe Cabrera is not the one to blame for his lack of progress. In 2004, he was rushed to the majors after only 5 starts at AA Bowie. In his career he's made just 11 starts above A ball, for a total of 61 innings.
That's not a prospect who is a little raw. That's one never given a chance to get real seasoning in AA and AAA ball. No one can ever really quantify how much that set this young talent back. There was a time teams gave prospects two or three years in the high minors. Now it's two or three weeks sometimes. And some never recover from the rush job.
But now, with Daniel, it's past time for asking why he hasn't improved. I say the club gives him 15-20 starts and must see some progress by the all-star break.
If not by then, then give the next hard-throwing righty (or lefty) phenom his first chance.
(Agree? Disagree? Let us know by using the comment box below.)
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