Cubs Sign Left-Handed Reliever Génesis Cabrera to Bolster Bullpen Depth

It's been a while since Génesis Cabrera flashed the relief ace upside that made him a hot commodity for a year or two around the time of the pandemic. Part of the trade that sent Tommy Pham to the Rays, Cabrera, 28, spent a few years as part of a fearsome but erratic knot of leverage relievers in a chaotic Cardinals bullpen. He was part of an even smaller trade in July 2023, heading to the Blue Jays, but they cut him loose at the end of 2024. Cabrera signed with the Mets, but made just six appearances for them before being designated for assignment.

Once he cleared waivers, Cabrera had the right to elect free agency, and did so. The Cubs signed him to a one-year, big-league deal, and he'll now join a bullpen that already has two established lefty arms (Caleb Thielbar and Drew Pomeranz) but can always use more depth. He's still an intriguing arm, with a sinker that sits on the high side of 96 miles per hour; a hard, cutterish slider that isn't what it used to be but works in the right sequences; a curveball with more depth; and a high-riding four-seamer that occasionally straightens out on him too much. It's a fine mix, and deeper than you see from most hard-throwing lefty relievers. His biggest problem, historically, has been controlling it. For his career, he's walked 11.3% of opposing batters.

The good news is that Cabrera does seem to be getting more comfortable with a reengineered version of himself, centered more around the slider and sinker and less around the four-seamer that was never especially well-controlled. He's taken good advice in his last two stops, with the Blue Jays and Mets, and might be on the verge of unlocking something that would let his arsenal play up nicely in the short term, given wise usage.

Cabrera is ineligible to be optioned to the minors, so he doesn't bring roster flexibility, but he's a more obviously tough matchup for (especially) lefty batters than some of the softer tossers the team has used. If he quickly makes it into a game, he'll be the 25th pitcher the Cubs have used already this season. Until 2012, the only seasons in their history in which they'd used 25 pitchers were the first two years after the last expansion, in 1998 and 1999. The team record for pitchers used in one campaign is 43, set in 2022. With any luck, these Cubs won't break that record, but they're going to use somewhere near 40 arms before the season is out. Cabrera, with his remaining upside, is a nice addition—but he's unlikely to become a staple.