Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
I think it’d be fair to say that Everth Cabrera has seen better days.
The San Diego Padres might be 7-3 in their last 10 going into play on Tuesday and still sorta hanging around at 8.5 games back in the NL West, but it’s been with little to no help from the player who has provided them with arguably their biggest spark during the first half of the 2013 season.
Now, I’m sure that the team is happy to have their shortstop back in July after his missed 17 games on the DL with a hamstring issue … but I’m sure they’d rather have the pre-injury version of him back, that’s all.
Instead of the All-Star, the Cabrera they’ve got is quickly slipping back into the form of the guy who could barely keep himself in the big leagues just a couple of season ago. Though he’s definitely still scoring runs atop the Padres lineup (a team-leading 14 in July), it’s been more of a product of his leadoff spot and his teammates, rather than his own doing at the plate.
Despite notching hits in seven of his 11 games since after the All-Star Break and coming off a 2-for-4 performance on Monday in a winning effort over the Cincinnati Reds, Cabrera is has posted a paltry .202/.277./.238 triple-slash through 84 at-bats int he month thus far.
Yes, he’s still getting on base with a good 0.69 BB/K ratio, but even with potentially league-best speed, a .515 OPS bat is just not going to play in MLB over an extended time.
Worse, that x-factor — his speed — hasn’t exactly been what it used to be since his injury either.
With just five steals in eight attempts over the month, the 63.5 percent success rate is by far Cabrera’s worth monthly showing to date. Considering that he stole a whopping 12 bases in 14 attempts over just 61 at-bats in June prior to getting hurt, and it’s hard not to say that the hamstring is still holding him back.
And without that game-changing base-stealing ability, the fact is that the Padres have a sub-par shortstop in both defense who has been a mixed bag at the plate … and one who might be in for even worse days thanks for his like to the Biogenesis scandal.
So, as fantastic a year as Cabrera has had over the half, the rest of second half calls for a much more ominous forecast for both him and the Padres.
