April 14, 2007
Cabrera in Control
Although he didn't figure in the decision tonight (they won 6-4), Daniel Cabrera continued to show he's improved his control from last season. He walked just one and struck out five in his five innings of work, giving him five walks on the season to go with 19 strikeouts. In 2006, he walked 104 while striking out 157. He's more than doubled his K/BB.
Posted by David Pinto at
10:52 PM
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I know that PECOTA is very keen on him this year ... looks so far like the Mazzone effect is for real.
Ya well perhaps pecota has the right idea
What's the Mazzone effect?
The effect former Braves pitching coach Leo Mazzone has on pitchers, particularly young ones who haven't yet reached their perceived potential. Basically he has this fun little habit of making crap pitchers--take Jaret Wright in 2003, for instance--into great ones. Cabrera's got a fantastic arm but has never had any control; this is one of the things Mazzone's good at fixing.
Cabrera was not nearly as sharp in this one as he was in the other two outings. He threw a lot of pitches in inning one. But I think there were five baserunners that inning. Of the five, one was a hit batter (that didn't hit the batter), two were singles off fielders gloves, another was an infield single, and the fifth was a groundball single through the box if I recall correctly (I'm sure about the first four).
He is greatly improved, and as a 26-year old starting to realize his potential. But it is a long season, and Cabrera has had 3-game stretches before where he has pitched this well. He needs to develop true consistency, and that is the goal in Baltimore this year.
