After trading Matt Strahm to the Kansas City Royals, the Philadelphia Phillies knew they needed more left-handed depth options for the bullpen.
When they traded Strahm last Friday, the Phillies also acquired lefty Kyle Backhus in a deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks. But replacing the former All-Star was always going to be about finding multiple options to increase the odds of someone taking a step forward.
The Phillies now appear to have found the next of those left-handed options: seven-year major league veteran Génesis Cabrera.
Dominican baseball insider Mike Rodriguez reported on Friday that Cabrera and the Phillies were in agreement on a minor-league deal with an invite to spring training. The 29-year-old, who had a reasonably stable career early on, pitched for four major league teams and was designated for assignment three times this year.
In 42 2/3 innings for the New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Minnesota Twins, Cabrera posted an unsightly 6.54 ERA, allowing a career-worst 2.5 home runs per nine innings.
In parts of five seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, Cabrera posted a respectable 4.14 ERA, and he hit his stride in his year and a half with the Toronto Blue Jays, for whom he had a 3.34 ERA and played an important role during the 2023 playoff push.
Cabrera also once became an enemy to Phillies fans with the Cardinals in 2021 when he plunked Bryce Harper in the jaw with a fastball, then hit Didi Gregorius in the back, resulting in then-Phillies manager Joe Girardi getting ejected when the umpires only issued a warning.
If Cabrera proves to be an impactful arm of any kind, that incident will be water under the bridge for a team that just needs to cobble together a decent bullpen to support its fantastic rotation.
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