Cubs Can’t Afford to Keep Edward Cabrera in Rotation
The Cubs' decision to bring Edward Cabrera back into the rotation backfired in a major way, and with the NL Central race tightening, Craig Counsell can't afford to keep waiting for the struggling right-hander to turn things around.
Video Transcript
The Cubs made the decision to send Javier Assad down to triple A, Iowa.
They made that move so that they could elevate Edward Cabrera from the injured list, give him the ball to start against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, and it didn't go very well.
Cabrera lasted three and two-thirds innings, six hits, seven earned runs, a blowout 11 to four loss where frankly, he didn't keep the Cubs in the game at all.
As of Thursday, the Cubs were three games back of the Brewers, and despite the Brewers having to play four with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Cubs lost two games in the standings.
A big part of that was Cabrera's poor performance, losing them a game on Sunday.
After the game, Cabrera claimed to have a blister issue in his right middle finger that impacted his outing, but apparently didn't tell Craig Counsell or any of the Cubs coaches until he was removed from the game in the fourth.
Any way you slice it, that's a problem.
It's either an excuse for Cabrera to justify poor performance or it's a real injury.
But Cabrera was on the IL for a blister on the very same finger earlier this season, so it just leads me to believe this is going to continue to nag him and force him to pitch poorly.
I'm now of the opinion that the Cubs should either shut down Edward Cabrera for the season or just move him to the bullpen.
But the already short leash the Cubs had on Cabrera in the starting rotation has now run out, in my opinion.
The Cubs took David Peterson out of the rotation and moved him to the bullpen to accommodate Cabrera on the active roster and in that rotation spot.
Assad option to triple A now needs to stay in the minor leagues for at least fifteen days before he can be recalled, but the Cubs should look to get him back with the team as quickly as possible.
Javier Assad was pitching well.
And after opening his Cubs career with eleven and two-thirds scoreless, Edward Cabrera now has a six seventy two ERA with a one five nine WHIP in twenty twenty-six.
It's been a disastrous year, nowhere near good enough, and the Cubs are not currently in a position to let things play out without taking action.
If you wanna win the NL Central, it's go time, and burning a rotation spot on Cabrera when you have more competent options in Peterson, Assad, heck, even Colin Rea, that would be foolish.
The Cubs may not be able to completely walk back the Assad decision right now.
It'll still be two weeks before they can bring him, bring him back up from triple A.
But that doesn't mean they need to trot Cabrera back out to the mound for a few more trips around the rotation and put themselves behind the eight ball before a game even starts.
Craig Counsell seemed pretty noncommittal about the idea that Cabrera would stay in the rotation after Sunday's loss, and if the Cubs were wise, they'd waste no time in readjusting their plans
