Atlanta Braves 2015 Top 10 Prospects: Where Are They Now?
By Seth Carter
We look back five years at the Atlanta Braves top 10 prospects of the 2015 season and where they are now
We’ll be using the Baseball Prospectus’ Top 10 Prospects List for our five-year check-up to see how the Atlanta Braves top 10 prospects are doing now.
10. Mauricio Cabrera
Mauricio Cabrera -RHP
Acquired via International free agency in 2010 out of the Dominican Republic.
2014 Stats: 5.73 ERA, 1.455 WHIP, 33.0 IP, 31 SO, 21 BB (A+-RK)
Projected Major League ETA: 2017
Actual Major League Debut: 2016
Oh, the hype around a guy that can hit 103 MPH on the radar gun. Baseball Prospectus highlighted the weaknesses that plagued Mauricio Cabrera as arm slot issues, being inconsistent with his delivery, mechanical issues, poor command, tips his breaking balls, and he can’t control the curveball…but he throws hard.
The thing is, when a guy throws as hard as Mauricio, you have to hope he can learn to harness that heat.
Despite posting a 5.59 ERA in 2015, Cabrera was promoted to Double-A Mississippi. Once he got to Mississippi his walks per nine rose to an atrocious 9.3.
Between the two levels in 2015, he combined for 5.7 walks per nine and 8.5 strikeouts per nine. Somehow Cabrera was struggling to turn his 103 MPH fastball into the type of strikeout numbers one might expect.
Despite all his struggles the previous three seasons, something clicked in 2016. Through 25 games in Mississippi, Cabrera posted a 3.21 ERA in 33.2 innings pitched. His 1.248 WHIP was an incredible improvement over previous stops, which routinely hovered between 1.50 and 1.80.
Cabrera was still struggling with the walks as he put nearly six batters per nine frames on base with free tickets. However, the strikeouts continued to creep up to 9.4 per nine.
Cabrera would pitch in 38.1 innings for the Atlanta Braves that season, earning 6 saves and 2 wins. He finished his first major league season with a stellar 2.82 ERA but he walked an alarming 19 batters in 38.1 innings.
Five-Year Checkup
In 2017, Mauricio found himself toiling in the minor leagues again, posting a 5.27 ERA in Double-A Mississippi and an even worse, a 7.86 ERA in Triple-A Gwinnett.
Cabrera bounced all over the Braves’ system in 2017, playing between four different levels of minor league teams. Despite a solid ERA in his first major league season, the command issues lied beneath the surface.
The writing was on the wall for the flame thrower.
Two-thousand-and-seventeen ended with Cabrera combining to walk over nine batters per nine and striking out only 7.8 per nine.
The man who could throw 103 MPH finished the season with 46 walks and just 39 strikeouts in 45.0 innings pitched. He walked more batters than he struck out.
Cabrera was released by the Braves in 2018 and last pitched for the White Sox Double-A affiliate, striking out 67 batters in 48 innings in 2019. He also walked 47 batters.