For much the 2011 season, Rockies lefthanded pitching prospect Edwar Cabrera has led the minor leagues in strikeouts. In 13 starts in the Low-A South Atlantic League, Cabrera threw 86 innings and struck out 110. That got him a promotion to the perilous California League, where he’s made inroads on upping his prospect status.
There was little Cabrera could’ve done to get taken more seriously in Low-A, since he’s already 23 and doesn’t boast an impressive arsenal of pitches. He’s a stringy lefthander who works in the upper 80’s with a mediocre breaking ball and great changeup–basically the Dallas Braden skillset.
Without impressive stuff or imposing size, there wasn’t much in Low-A that Cabrera could do to avoid the “low minors performance prospect” label. That’s still going to plague him in High-A–the Giants’ Eric Surkamp still got a similar label despite impressive performance in the Cal League last year. But there’s no question that success in the hostile hitter’s paradise can boost a prospect’s stock from mere curiosity to bona fide sleeper.
Cabrera’s embraced the challenge, with a 25/3 K/BB in his first three starts, spanning 18 2/3 innings. He’s done a nice job of keeping the ball in the park, thus far allowing just one home run.
With his excellent control and good changeup, Cabrera’s dominated the low minors–again, very similar to Braden. As Braden’s career arc has shown, we shouldn’t expect a pitcher in this mold to hold the strikeouts in the majors, and Colorado isn’t exactly the best place for a soft-tossing pitcher. That said, control will play anywhere, so if Cabrera continues to keep his walk totals miniscule and keeps the ball down, then he could find success down the line. A trade to a team with a bigger park could do him wonders at some point, though.
In any case, while he’s far from the top starting pitching prospect in the game, Cabrera’s continued success bodes well for him putting together some kind of major league career at some point.