Padres Linked to Marlins Starting Pitcher in Potential Trade Deadline Move

RJ Anderson of CBS Sports mentions that the Padres — along with the Atlanta Braves and Minnesota Twins — could be good fits for the 6-foot-5 right-handed starting pitcher.

"Cabrera is a good example of how the league has changed. Fifteen years ago, he would’ve chucked his mid-90s fastball 60% of the time. In 2025? He’s throwing his two heaters less than 40% of the time, instead favoring his changeup and pair of breaking balls (including a new curveball that he’s added drop and sweep to year to year). His command isn’t great and he’s never even thrown 100 innings in a big-league season (he finished an out short a few years back), but I think there’s enough intrigue here for the Marlins to fetch a quality return if they pursue a trade."

The 27-year-old is 3-3 with a 3.33 ERA on the year. Those numbers don't fly off the screen on the surface. However, when doing a deeper dive into Cabrera's performance, there are some aspects that could play up hugely on a contending team with consistent run support.

Cabrera operates with high-end velocity. He averages 96.6 miles-per-hour on his heater. Cabrera ranks in the 75th percentile in ground ball percentage. Most impressively, Cabrera sits in the 91st percentile in breaking run value.

A five-pitch repertoire includes a changeup, slider, sinker, curveball, and four-seam fastball. Despite possessing above-average velocity, it's the pitch Cabrera uses the least of the five (13.9 percent). He sits mostly with a changeup-sinker-curveball rotation — sprinkling in the slider and fastball.

Given San Diego's injury woes in the rotation, Cabrera would appear to be a very nice fit within the framework of the team as it chases the Los Angeles Dodgers in the uber-competitive NL West. Cabrera has three years of arbitration control remaining before becoming a free agent in 2029.

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