CHICAGO — Edward Cabrera was just about perfect in his debut with the Chicago Cubs.
Cabrera pitched six crisp innings in Monday night’s 7-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. The right-hander struck out five while throwing 80 pitches in the opener of a three-game series, 49 for strikes.
“He did a tremendous job,” catcher Carson Kelly said. “Had good command with everything. He’s got electric stuff. Having all those pitches and keeping guys guessing, I think there’s not one pitch you can sit on, and I think that’s what really makes him special.”
Cabrera set the tone for his outing with a first-inning strikeout of Angels star Mike Trout. The three-time AL MVP fouled off a 97.2 mph fastball before fanning on a full-count curveball on the eighth pitch of the at-bat.
“I just went out there and gave it my 100% like I always tend to do,” Cabrera said through an interpreter. “I had faced him before, but I just wanted to go out there and give it my absolute best regardless of who was up to bat.”
Cabrera, who turns 28 on April 13, was acquired in a January trade with Miami for outfielder Owen Caissie and infield prospects Cristian Hernandez and Edgardo De Leon. Caissie is 5-for-13 with a homer and four RBIs in his first four games with the Marlins.
Wearing custom Cubs-themed cleats, the 6-foot-5 Cabrera allowed two baserunners in his first start of the season. Yoán Moncada walked with one out in the second, and Nolan Schanuel singled to right in the fourth.
After giving up his only hit, Cabrera got Jorge Soler to bounce into an inning-ending double play. He pounded his glove with his fist as he made his way off the mound.
“As he got into it, he had everything working,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “Carson felt really comfortable with kind of any pitch, any count. With his stuff, if we get into that mode, it’s going to be a tough night for hitters.”
Cabrera, who made his major league debut with Miami in 2021, went 8-7 with a 3.53 ERA in a career-high 26 starts and 137⅔ innings last year. He agreed to a $4.45 million, one-year contract with Chicago a day after the trade, avoiding salary arbitration.
He became the first Cubs pitcher to throw six shutout innings while giving up one or fewer hits and one or fewer walks in his team debut since Don Cardwell on May 15, 1960, against St. Louis.
“Just goes right after guys,” Kelly said of Cabrera. “He’s like, ‘I think I’m the best every time I take the mound, and I truly believe that,’ and I think he’s going to go out there and bring that energy every single time.”
