How the Cubs used Edward Cabrera’s 15-day IL stint to get his stuff back

The Chicago Cubs had long coveted Edward Cabrera, and in January, they finally acquired him in a trade with the Miami Marlins. For a starting rotation lacking in both velocity and swing-and-miss stuff, Cabrera seemed like a perfect fit.

The fact that he was entering his age-28 season, plus being under team control for three years, led the Cubs to believe they were about to get the best of the talented righty. But something looked off with Cabrera in his first 10 starts. His fastball was down a full tick from 2025, and his stuff didn’t look as crisp.

The results were uneven, with Cabrera posting a 4.00 ERA and a strikeout rate of just 20.7%. So when he hit the injured list with a blister issue, Chicago’s coaching staff went to work with him.

Pitching coach Tommy Hottovy and assistant pitching coach Casey Jacobson took advantage of the fact that this wasn’t a debilitating injury for Cabrera. Jacobson pointed out that these types of opportunities are rare during a season. Either an injury keeps them from getting the work done or the urgency of getting ready for the next start doesn’t allow the staff to really work on the issues.

For Cabrera, the main issue manifested in a lower arm angle. Sometimes, this can mean compensation for an injury. The Cubs were certain that wasn’t the case.

“Usually when you see guys’ arm slot drop, a lot of times there’s a shoulder impingement and they don’t want to get into that so they work (down) to create space,” Hottovy said. “His is much more about an inefficiency with the lower body that was creating a rotational move with the upper body.”

How exactly did these mechanical issues develop?

One theory was that Cabrera didn’t think his stuff was moving like it should — he was right — but instead of fixing the mechanical issue, he tried forcing the movement.

“Usually when you’re working on a breaking ball or creating shapes up at the top of the strike zone, you get this whippy-type throw,” Hottovy said. “You fly open, let everything open up and you feel like you create space to throw shapes — sliders, curveballs, heaters up. In reality, you don’t want to see those happen. You want them to happen so late — I would rather a pitcher turn to me and say, ‘Did that move at all?’ Because you don’t see it if your head is on-line; you finish and it breaks.”

At times, Cabrera can get away with this inefficient delivery because he has elite arm talent. However, to be effective on the mound, the Cubs need him to drive with the lower half and let the arm work, rather than trying to create the shape he wants with his arm.

“He tends to have his pelvis set a little bit more beneath him,” Hottovy said. “A little more pushy, he likes working extension with the spine. If all that happens, then the arm is going to drag and be flat. So it’s about trying to get him to understand that the initial move of that back leg is so important for him because it helps set up the rest of the delivery.”

All of this led the arm to drop.

After averaging an arm angle of 36 degrees last season, Cabrera was down to 33.6 in April and a worrisome 31.6 in May. To get it back to where they wanted, the Cubs went through a process. They’d spent the previous few months learning about Cabrera and his routine. Doing so allowed them to understand what Cabrera likes to work on and better prepare for what levers to pull.

“Now we can make sure what he’s trying to do and what he wants to accomplish is going to be beneficial for the long haul,” Hottovy said.

One thing they realized was that Cabrera’s long toss wasn’t truly helpful. Instead of working his lower body or having a true goal, he was so strong with his arm that he could just “flick” the ball nearly pole to pole. The Cubs limited the long toss during which he was just passively throwing the ball.

“If we’re going to get back there, we’re going to get back there with some intent and try to keep it on a line so he has some momentum,” Hottovy said. “So we challenge him in that sense so he doesn’t just flick a ball 250 feet. Try to actually accomplish something.”

The Cubs then introduced some medicine ball drills with Cabrera. Jacobson really got after him with the core velocity belt, forcing him to use his lower body properly.

“You put that on a guy, it pulls you down the mound,” Hottovy said. “You feed the mistake. If a guy gets a pushy delivery or gets into hip extension early, you pull them into hip extension to make them have to fight. Another thing he does is he tends to swing open that front leg, so we try to pull him open so he has to hold it. Hopefully, we improve that enough that he just gets to it naturally.”

One start after returning from the IL, the stuff was back. The command was not, and Cabrera got hit hard, allowing eight runs in just 3⅔ innings. But in Thursday’s 9-3 win over the Colorado Rockies, he had both the stuff and the results. Cabrera allowed just two runs in 5⅔ innings, striking out five and walking two at Coors Field.

Most importantly, his stuff seems to be crisp again.

After averaging below 96 mph with his four-seamer and sinker in the first two months of the season, both have averaged above 97 mph in June. The velocity of those pitches is just an indicator that things are headed in the right direction, since neither is really his bread and butter pitch. Cabrera needs whiffs on his breaking balls and changeup to thrive. Both have started to show up in his last two starts.

The work doesn’t stop, though.

There were high expectations for Cabrera and the Cubs as a whole. So far, neither is living up to what the Cubs or their fans were hoping for this season. Perhaps Thursday is the start of better things for both the individual and the team as a whole.

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