Oswaldo Alberto Cabrera (born March 1, 1999) is a Venezuelan professional baseball utility player for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He signed with the Yankees as a free agent when he was 16 years old. He made his MLB debut in 2022. Cabrera has appeared at every position in MLB except for catcher.
| Oswaldo Cabrera | |||||||||||||||
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_(cropped).jpg) Cabrera with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in 2022 | |||||||||||||||
| New York Yankees – No. 95 | |||||||||||||||
| Utility player | |||||||||||||||
| Born: March 1, 1999 Guarenas, Venezuela | |||||||||||||||
Bats: Switch Throws: Right | |||||||||||||||
| MLB debut | |||||||||||||||
| August 17, 2022, for the New York Yankees | |||||||||||||||
| MLB statistics (through 2024 season) | |||||||||||||||
| Batting average | .233 | ||||||||||||||
| Home runs | 19 | ||||||||||||||
| Runs batted in | 84 | ||||||||||||||
| Teams | |||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Early life
editCabrera is from Guarenas in Venezuela. His father, Leobardo, was a professional volleyball player.[1] His brothers, Eleardo and Leobaldo, also played baseball.[2][3] Cabrera trained at the baseball academy run by Carlos Guillén.[4]
Career
editCabrera signed with the New York Yankees as a free agent when he was 16 years old.[5] Cabrera played for the Somerset Patriots of Double-A Northeast in 2021; he led the league in hits and runs batted in (RBIs), and was named the league's most valuable player.[6] The Yankees added him to their 40-man roster, protecting him from being eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 draft, after the season.[7] The Yankees optioned Cabrera to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders for the start of the 2022 season.[8]
The Yankees promoted Cabrera to the major leagues on August 17, 2022, and he made his major league debut that day as the starting third baseman.[9][10] The following day, he picked up his first major league hit, a double off of Toronto Blue Jays starter José Berríos.[11] In his first six major league games, he also started as a shortstop, second baseman, and right fielder.[12] On September 11, Cabrera hit his first major league home run, against Tampa Bay Rays right-handed pitcher Calvin Faucher at Yankee Stadium.[13] On September 21, Cabrera hit his first grand slam against Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Roansy Contreras.[14] In 2022, he batted .247/.312/.429 in 154 at bats for the Yankees, with six home runs and 19 RBIs.[15] Cabrera began to play as an outfielder in 2022.[16] He played 27 games in right field, nine games in left field, four games at shortstop, and three games each at first base, second base, and third base.[15]
Cabrera started in left field for the Yankees on Opening Day in 2023 and manager Aaron Boone named him their starting left fielder.[17] He batted .195 in 46 games before the Yankees optioned Cabrera to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on June 1.[18] The Yankees recalled Cabrera on June 3 due to an injury to Greg Allen.[19] He finished the regular season with a .211 average, five home runs and 29 RBIs in 115 games. After the 2023 season, Cabrera played winter ball for the Tiburones de La Guaira of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League.[3]
Due to an injury to DJ LeMahieu, Cabrera opened the 2024 season as the Yankees' regular third baseman.[20] On March 29, 2024, Cabrera had his first four-hit game in the major leagues.[21]
References
edit- ^ Ackert, Kristie (August 18, 2022). "Oswaldo Cabrera having time of his life after call-up". New York Daily News. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
- ^ Hoch, Bryan (April 21, 2023). "Where's Oswaldo? Wherever he's needed". MLB.com. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
- ^ a b Miller, Randy (February 13, 2024). "Yankees' Oswaldo Cabrera still smiling, but bringing new mentality into super utility role". NJ Advance Media. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
- ^ Álvarez, Alfredo (August 22, 2022). "Oswaldo Cabrera, el joven que tiene a todos maravillados". MLB.com (in Spanish). Retrieved May 6, 2024.
- ^ "El venezolano Oswaldo Cabrera un prospecto a tener en cuenta en el béisbol". Noticias Todos Ahora (in Spanish). July 15, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
- ^ "INF Oswaldo Cabrera Named Double-A Northeast MVP". Milb.com. October 6, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
- ^ "Yankees designate Clint Frazier, Rougned Odor, Tyler Wade for assignment at 40-man roster finalization deadline". New York Daily News. November 19, 2021. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
- ^ "Yankees cut 3 top prospects from camp, including Oswald Peraza". NJ.com. March 28, 2022. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
- ^ Snyder, Matt. "Yankees call up prospects Oswaldo Cabrera, Estevan Florial as team looks for spark". CBS Sports. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
- ^ Lee, Joon (August 17, 2022). "Clay Holmes to IL as part of New York Yankees roster shuffle; DJ LeMahieu says he'll avoid IL". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
- ^ "Oswaldo Cabrera picks up first big league hit in Yankees lost". nypost.com. August 19, 2022. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
- ^ Phillips, Gary (August 23, 2022). "For a Yankees Rookie, a Stack of Gloves and a Handmade Necklace". The New York Times. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
- ^ Blum, Ronald (September 11, 2022). "Yanks HR barrage in 10-4 win opens 5 1/2-game lead over Rays". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
- ^ Joyce, Greg (September 22, 2022). "Oswaldo Cabrera's hot bat a boost to Yankees lineup". Nypost.com. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
- ^ a b "Oswaldo Cabrera Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ Phillips, Gary (August 23, 2022). "For a Yankees Rookie, a Stack of Gloves and a Handmade Necklace". The New York Times. Retrieved June 4, 2023.
- ^ Sanchez, Mark W. (April 1, 2023). "Yankees' Aaron Boone: Oswaldo Cabrera 'earned' start over Aaron Hicks". New York Post. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
- ^ Joyce, Greg (May 29, 2023). "Yankees send slumping Oswaldo Cabrera to Triple-A". Nypost.com. Retrieved June 4, 2023.
- ^ "Jake Bauers hits pair of two-run homers, Aaron Judge and Oswaldo Cabrera also go deep as Yankees beat Dodgers". June 4, 2023.
- ^ Caldera, Pete (May 2, 2024). "Yankees' Oswaldo Cabrera continues to come up big with DJ LeMahieu out". Bergen Record. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
- ^ "'It's just two games' -- but it's two great games for Cabrera". MLB.com.
External links
edit
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet