The Chicago Cubs made their first big move of the offseason by acquiring right-handed pitcher Edward Cabrera from the Miami Marlins.

Cabrera comes to the Windy City with three years of club control and put together the best numbers of his career in 2025. With this trade, the Cubs have solved their pitching need ahead of Spring Training. 

But what does Cabrera do well? What does he struggle with? Let’s dive into the numbers. 

Cabrera is coming off the best season of his Major League career. He finished with a 3.53 ERA and 150 strikeouts across 137 ⅔ innings pitched and really emerged as a reliable rotation arm for the Marlins throughout the 2025 season. 

Therefore, the best is likely ahead for the up-and-coming right-hander. He hasn’t even reached his full potential yet, and being able to now work with the Cubs' pitching lab of Tommy Hottovy and Tyler Zombro could do wonders for him.

The thing that should get fans excited about the addition of Cabrera is that he has two of the best off-speed pitches in all of baseball. Both his changeup and curveball were untouchable on the mound last year. 

Opposing hitters batted just .203 with a .266 slugging against Cabrera’s changeup in 2025. The average velocity of that pitch was 94.2 mph, which is harder than what Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon, Matthew Boyd, and Justin Steele all averaged on their fastball last year. 

Crazy enough, Cabrera’s changeup can reach up to 96-97 mph. Being able to throw a 99+ mph fastball and then coming back with a hard-throwing changeup can really throw hitters off balance. That was the case last year, as he induced 80 whiffs on that pitch alone. 

Then, there’s his curveball. This might actually be the best pitch in his arsenal, as he held opposing hitters to a .141 batting average in 2025. More than a third of his strikeouts came on this pitch (54), and he ended the year with an impressive 45.3% whiff rate on his curveball.  

Cabrera enjoyed the best campaign of his career, led by his off-speed stuff. His Breaking Run Value landed him in the 94th percentile, and his Offspeed Run Value placed him in the 88th percentile on Baseball Savant. 

Cabrera showed last season that he has the potential to be a top guy in any rotation. However, the 27-year-old is far from a perfect pitcher. 

For starters, injuries have played a major role in Cabrera’s career to date. He has missed significant time in each of the past three seasons due to various injuries, which has resulted in the right-hander throwing over 100 innings just once in his career. 

In 2023, Cabrera missed more than one month due to a shoulder injury suffered in the middle of June. Then, he had multiple stints on the injured list in 2024 due to an ongoing shoulder injury that forced him to miss over two months of action. 

This past year, injuries continued to pop up for Cabrera. He started the season on the 15-day IL due to a right middle finger injury and missed almost a month due to an elbow injury. So, there are certainly injury concerns with him. 

Cabrera’s fastball is also a work in progress. Opposing hitters had a combined .333 batting average on his four-seam fastball and sinker in 2025. That spelled trouble for him, as 10 of his 17 home runs allowed came on those two pitches alone.

With only a 9.2% whiff rate on his sinker last year, that pitch has to be more consistent for him if he wants to take that next step on the mound.  

There are definitely some risks in trading for Cabrera. He has failed to stay healthy throughout his Major League career and allows a lot of hard contact. His 46.4% hard-hit rate ranked in the bottom 10% of the league last season. 

However, his upside and potential outweigh those risks. With the recent success that the Cubs have had in turning pitchers into superstars on the mound, there’s a good chance Cabrera becomes the next. 

That’s ultimately why the front office made this trade. The Cubs have him for the next three years, and Cabrera’s best days as a pitcher are likely ahead. Chicago is banking on him reaching his ceiling.