Athletes - Daniel Cabrera

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	Athletes - Daniel Cabrera

Daniel Alberto Cabrera (born May 28, 1981, in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic) is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles. He throws right handed and completed his second season as a pitcher in the majors.

Cabrera throws three pitches: a fastball, a curveball, and a changeup. His fastball is strongest pitch - he is able to throw it consistently in the upper 90s, with significant sinking and tailing action. He throws two different curveballs. One is a sharp-breaking, hard curve that behaves like a slurve and tops out in the mid-upper 80s. He also throws a looping, 12-6 curveball that tops out in the high 70s. Cabrera's changeup is improving, though in 2005 it was extremely inconsistent. He featured this pitch with more effectiveness while representing the Dominican Republic in the inaugural World Baseball Classic. Cabrera's wicked mix of velocity and pitch movement have enabled him to rack up impressive strikeout numbers, as evidenced by his excellent K rate in 2005 (8.8 K/9). However, he has had difficulties with control. His career walk rate is an extremely high 5.1 BB/9; his career high for walks in a single game is 7.

Professional career

Daniel Cabrera was signed by Baltimore Orioles as an amateur free agent in 1999. He did not become a player in the Orioles minor league system until 2000, at the age of 20.

For his first two seasons as a minor leaguer, Cabrera played in the rookie leagues; first with the Gulf Coast Orioles, then with Bluefield. He posted a 5.49 ERA his first season, a 3.28 ERA his second. When he was 22, Cabrera became a part of the Orioles Single-A ballclub. His record was 5-9 with a 4.24 ERA.

By the end of his third season in the minors, Cabrera was racking up the numbers one would expect from a power pitcher. He recorded 105 strikeouts over 101 innings of work with the rookie leagues between 2001 and 2002, and added 120 strikeouts over 125.1 innings in Single-A ball the following season. He was promoted to Double-A Bowie before the 2004 season.

While at Bowie, Cabrera began dominating; through five starts, he posted a 2.39 ERA and averaged over 11 strikeouts per nine innings. On May 11, 2004, he was called up to make his major league debut against the Chicago White Sox.

Cabrera did not disappoint. In his very first start, he tossed six shut out innings. In June, he had a 2.83 ERA and held opponents to a mere .204 batting average. Though utterly dominating for the first few months, Daniel's control slowly left him; by the end of the season, he was walking far too many batters to be effective, and finished the season with an even 5.00 ERA. He finished third in AL Rookie of the Year voting.

At the start of the 2005 season, Cabrera was listed as the Orioles #2 starter, thanks to a dominating Grapefruit League performance. His performance was extremely up-and-down, however. Though he had many utterly dominating performances, he had an equal number of disastrous outings. His 2005 ERA of 4.52 belies the inconsistency he experienced from start to start.

During 2005, Cabrera's name surfaced in trade rumors involving A.J. Burnett of the Florida Marlins. These trade rumors never reached fruition, however, and Burnett and Cabrera both remained with their respective teams for the duration of the season.

Cabrera has once again demonstrated his potential with some dominating performances against major-league caliber rosters while pitching in the WBC. It remains to be seen, however, whether this potential will become reality. Many baseball experts, including ESPN analysts Rob Neyer and Peter Gammons, predict a breakout season for Cabrera in 2006. It remains to be seen, however, whether he will deliver on his immense promise.

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Athletes - Daniel Cabrera

Professional career

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