Génesis Cabrera is a lefty.
On the Mets 40-man roster right now, their only lefties are Sean Manaea, A.J. Minter, David Peterson and Danny Young. The Mets just don’t have a ton of south paw options.
Cabrera signed in 2013 was the Rays and traded to the Cardinals in a package that include Tommy Pham. He would make his major league debut with the Cardinals and stayed with them until he was traded to the Blue Jays in 2023.
Cabrera pitched in 69 games over 62 2/3 innings in 2024 with a 3.59 ERA, 5.13 FIP, 1.468 WHIP and a 113 ERA+. Since 2021, he’s had an ERA+ above 100 and has pitched between 39 and 71 games per season. What’s been holding Cabrera back is his control. His WHIP has been above 1.300 since 2022. He had a 10.7 BB% last season which puts him in the 17th percentile. Mixed with a 18.5 K% (14th percentile), you get a not-so-great combination.
The raw stuff is there though. Last year his fastball average at 96 mph, which was good for the 80th percentile. He throws five different pitches, leaning mostly on a high-80’s cutter (39.3%) and a 96 mph sinker (22.5%) of the time. In addition to his four seamer he also tosses a curveball and a changeup.
Despite the problems with walks and strikeouts (and a literal average groundball rate in 2024 that ranked in the 56th percentile), Génesis Cabrera has found a way to keep his ERA low. He has a career 3.89 ERA and has kept his ERA below 4.00 in three of his six major league seasons. Here’s what we are looking for from Cabrera in spring training:
- Cabrera’s strength is his velocity. How is his sinker and cutter?
- Can he keep the walks down? Any improvement in walks and control will go a long way for Cabrera.
- The players around him. A.J. Minter was a major free agent signing for the Mets, but is also recovering from hip surgery. Danny Young had an 87 ERA+ in 2024. What role do the Mets see for David Peterson?
Cabrera doesn’t have the easiest journey to a roster spot, but if he stays with the Mets after spring training, we’ll probably see him in Queens at some point – the Mets are just not that deep with left-handed pitching.
