Why, exactly, Daniel Cabrera was promoted from Single-A West Michigan to the Tigers’ Double-A niche at Erie remains a minor mystery.
He had not instilled fear in high-A pitchers, by any means — not with a .242 batting average, .300 on-base and .695 OPS.
He had not shown any exceptional power. He had not racked up a single sexy statistic.
But the Erie roster needed help after it had been raided and its top trio of stars — Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson, and Ryan Kreidler — were shipped to Toledo.
Cabrera has been, well, Cabrera since he showed up in Erie (.174 average, .197 OBP, .574 OPS). Not that his manager, Arnie Beyeler, has been disappointed.
“He’s pretty athletic,” Beyeler said Friday. “He’s a solid outfielder, with an average arm that helps him. He catches the ball and plays corner spots so far.
“He’s got a little pop in his bat. He drives the ball the other way. He’s hit some balls hard, and he gives you a decent at-bat against a left-hand pitcher.”
Cabrera was the first player taken in the second round of the 2020 MLB Draft. The Tigers had been on him during his days at Louisiana State and saw him as a left fielder, or right fielder, who figured to swing a left-handed bat that might someday look especially good in a lineup’s No. 2 hole.
“I’ve had him in the leadoff spot the last couple of weeks,” Beyeler said. “He’s been battling and playing hard and getting after it, showing he can go from first to third. He knows how to run the bases.
“He’s a guy to keep your eye on — almost a Robbie Grossman-type guy. He’s been a good kid, works his butt off. You always want to know who are the workers, who doesn’t fold their tent, or who starts pouting.
“You’re not going to teach that stuff at this point. The ones who do it can be successful.”
Cabrera, though, is an outfielder. And success for an outfielder depends upon the bat. A good deal of work’s ahead in 2022.
Second round, second guessing
Cabrera, as noted, is a second-round Tigers draft pick.
So, too, is Nick Quintana, who was plucked from the University of Arizona in 2019. Quintana, a third baseman, is batting .196 with a .675 OPS at low-A Lakeland.
Then there is outfielder Parker Meadows at West Michigan, yet another second-rounder (2018) who has had a steady struggle in 2021 as evidenced by his .203 average, .599 OPS, and 98 strikeouts in 93 games.
Reynaldo Rivera? Indeed, he was the Tigers’ 2017 second-round choice, and a huge (6-6, 250) left-handed stick who the Tigers foresaw crashing homers either as a corner outfielder or first baseman. Rivera, who is 24, has hit 20 homers for West Michigan. But he has a .207 batting average, carries a .287 on-base mark, and a .729 OPS.
He has struck out 134 times in 94 games.
What is it about the Tigers and second-round blowouts?
Numbers, for the most part. Late picks even in the first-round are always something of a draft-day gamble, which is compounded when MLB teams move to the second phase, after compensation picks have also been made between the first and second rounds.
But is is a bit rugged, this Tigers track record in their second turn, with once in a while a Tyler Alexander or a Brandon Inge deviating from form.
Ironically, the Tigers have two second-rounders on their current big-league active roster:
Niko Goodrum and Akil Baddoo.
They were viewed as roster excesses by the Twins, which shows some teams do indeed hit it in the second round, even if they don’t have 40-man roster space for talent they’ve drafted and end up indirectly donating to the Tigers.
Olson’s upside
The Tigers crushed a certain portion of their fan base — the folks who loved Daniel Norris through thick and thin — when they sent Norris to the Brewers in July for a minor-league right-hander named Reese Olson.
Norris, by the way, has pitched for the Brewers much as he did in Detroit: a bit up and down, with down edging up in 14 games (14.2 innings): 6.75 ERA, 1.705 WHIP, and 13 walks.
Olson, who turned 22 in July, prefers to throw right-handed and is 6-1, 160. The Tigers like his upside and believe they can yet streamline a delivery that needs, as they say, some “cleaning up.”
Olson pitched well at West Michigan in his early post-trade work and has been adequate in five starts: 4.74 ERA and 1.30 WHIP. His issue is control. He has walked 14 batters in 24.2 innings, while striking out 21 and allowing 18 hits.
He throws a fastball that can crowd the mid-90s, as well as a slider that has promise. He has the requisite change-up and a curve that need work, along with, primarily, more intimacy with the strike zone.
But the Tigers knew this when they traded for him in July. He has a shot — if more strikes become part of a dice-roll the Tigers were betting on in July.
Lynn Henning is a freelance writer and former Detroit News sports reporter.