Doug Gray 9
The first month of the career for Ricardo Cabrera went about as poorly as you could imagine. Once he got that behind him, the Reds top international signing in January of 2022 went off and hit very well for the rest of his debut season.
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Cincinnati moved Ricardo Cabrera up to the Arizona Complex League for the 2023 season. This year, the then 18-year-old was not wasting any time getting things rolling in his second season as he went 1-3 with three walks, a run, and an RBI to open up the season against the Guardians complex team and he didn’t really look back in June. Over the span of 17 games he hit .350/.506/.567 in the month with more walks than strikeouts.
He kept right on going into July, going 10-18 in the first four games of the month with a double and a triple. But in his first at-bat of the 5th game of the month he grounded out and injured his leg running the ball out. He would miss the next three weeks before returning to the lineup. He struggled to hit for the first handful of games in his return, going 3-21 in seven games that included him going hitless in five of those games.
Things turned around after that. He would finish out the regular season with the Arizona League Reds by going 16-43 (.372) with six extra-base hits. After two weeks of time off he was promoted to Single-A Daytona for the final week of the Tortugas season. Still just 18-years-old at the time, he picked up hits in four of the five games and hit .316 with five walks.
For all 2023 Season Reviews and Scouting Reports – click here (these will come out during the week throughout the offseason).
Ricardo Cabrera Scouting Report
Position: Shortstop/Third Base | B/T: R/R
Height: 5′ 11″ | Weight:178 lbs. | Acquired:International FA (2022) | Born: October 31, 2004
Hitting | He has an above-average hit tool.
Power | He has slightly above-average power potential.
Speed | He’s an above-average runner.
Defense |He’s an average fielder.
Arm |He has above-average arm strength.
There were plenty of things to like in 2023 from Ricardo Cabrera. He crushed the ball, posting a .346 average, a .475 on-base percentage, and he slugged .531. And he did all of that while also stealing 24 bases in 26 attempts while being 18-years-old.
It’s the offense that is likely to be the standout side of the game for Cabrera, but that may be more due to the fact that he projects so well on that side of things. He’s already using the entire field and showing some pop to all fields despite being at such a young age. His contact rate is solid, he hits the ball hard, has drawn walks at a high rate, and has been very successful in stealing bases.
Defensively there’s some good and some bad here. The good news is that he’s got the athleticism and tools to be a good defensive player in the future. The bad news is that so far in his career he’s struggled on the defensive side of things. He’s spent more time at shortstop than at third base so far in his career, but he’s seen a solid amount of time at both spots. Overall in his two seasons his fielding percentage is .874 and it’s not really better at either of the two positions. Of his 13 errors on the year the split was rather even as he made seven throwing errors and six fielding errors. Typically guys improve their error rates over time with more reps and experience, but it’s definitely an area that Cabrera is going to have to take several steps forward.
The errors aren’t the lone question, though. There are more than a few scouts who think that it’s not going to be long before Cabrera’s got to make the permanent move to third base. He’s got all of the tools to be a quality defender there, but there’s some lost value in sliding to third from shortstop.
Video
Ricardo Cabrera Spray Chart
Interesting Stat on Ricardo Cabrera
It was a small sample size of just 38 plate appearances, but he hit .464/.605/.786 with eight walks and just three strikeouts against left-handed pitchers in 2023.
9 Responses
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SultanofSwaff I’d like to see him bring an outfielder’s mitt to ST. Hopefully he’s athletic enough for CF, otherwise more of his value will get chipped away. Still, he’s not a guy I’d include in trade talks as I believe his value will skyrocket if he performs well at Dayton.
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Tom I agree, and in 3 years he will be a part of the next infield wave. Need to keep the premium talent in the system. Especially with the plus hit tool being above average and the DH making room for that in any instance. Sounds like he’s a 3b / 2b / 1b / OF option so he’ll have plenty of opportunity.
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MBS It’s awesome we’re getting some of the highest ranked international talent. Duno was taken in the next international signing period. Lets hope that trend continues. It should start paying off soon.
Any idea where Lin will start in 24? For that matter where he’ll play in the field?
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Doug Gray RE: Lin – No and no. If I had to guess, though, he’ll be in Arizona at a few positions.
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Old Big Ed I think Cabrera has right field written all over him. Good enough arm and speed to play there, and a bat to carry a corner position.
He’s listed as about the same size as Reggie Sanders, although the listed heights & weights seem to be iffy at best. He does have a similar skill set as Sanders, if he develops a bit more power. Getting Sanders-level production would be a massive development coup.
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DaveCT As a gifted infielder, sliding Cabrera to 3B from short seems very reasonable given he has slugged .458 for his career and .531 last year, at ages 17 and 18. At 5’11” and 175, he has plenty of room to add strength, too. If he follows the one step at a time approach of the Reds (more on that below), he’ll see Lo-A in 24, Hi-A in 25, AA in 26, then AAA/ML in 27 at age 22. It’s hard to see any reason to rush Cabrera either, with the players above him.
As for the one step at a time point, the Reds have recently shown more willingness to let players hit their way up a level or even two, though mostly at the upper levels and, much to the consternation of RML readers, more slowly than some might want. That said, there really is no compelling reason to push him to the ML’s before his age 22 season.
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Optimist Almost toally agree with this – with 2 comments.
1 – Keep him at SS as long as possible, unless he really plays himself out of it. Considering he’s only 19, wait until hi-A or AA to start playing other spots. Better to develop game skill at the most difficult spot and move elsewhere than vice-versa.
2 – I sense the Reds are much more willing to move players mid-season, or earlier, than scheduled. Stewart, Dunn and Hurtubise all moved last season, in addition to all the earlier callups to MLB. It does a few good things – keeps the pipeline flowing and determines who is ready sooner. Also, allows and encourages others to perform to promotion. Finally, it’s a sign of a more fully stocked farm if they have the flexibility and talent to do this.
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DaveCT My missing adverb is eventually, for the slide over to 3B comment. Being listed as an average short stop at age 19 in professional baseball is IMO quite good.
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Greenfield Red It’s better to have a missing adverb than a dangling participle.
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