Chicago Cubs: Edward Cabrera’s turnaround is essential to 2027 success

The Chicago Cubs—and their fans—were expecting big things from power-pitching right-hander Edward Cabrera when he came over from the Miami Marlins via trade last offseason.

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What they ended up getting was precisely two starts where he looked like the dominant future ace he was hyped to be, a couple of okay starts, and then just a lot of awful. On the season, the 28-year-old posted an ugly, career-worst 5.96 ERA, striking out fewer than usual and walking more than normal. He also spent significant time on the shelf dealing with a hamstring strain and blister issues.

By the end of the season, he was relegated to bullpen work because, frankly, the team couldn’t count on his durability and simply didn’t know what else to do with him. He posted an 11.25 ERA as a reliever over three appearances.

A monumental fail?

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The Cubs had their eye on Cabrera for quite a while, believing he was on the verge of becoming fully-actualized as a front-of-rotation powerhouse starter. They gave up a lot to get him, also. To bring him to Chicago, they traded away their top prospect OF Owen Caissie, their No. 11 prospect INF Cristian Hernandez, and 19-year-old prospect INF Edgardo De Leon.

The trade now looks like a monumental fail, especially with corner outfielders Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ possibly leaving via free agency, creating an urgent need for at least one power-hitting replacement.

“We struggled with Edward,” Chicago president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer told The Athletic last week. “Edward has had a lot of success in the big leagues. He’s a really good big-league pitcher. We have to think about what things contributed to him struggling and look at ourselves.”

“We didn’t get the most out of him,” Hoyer added. “That’s something as an organization I have to own. We need to really focus on that. He has a lot of talent. He really cares. We have to get more out of him.”

Ugly pitching realities

And that is most definitely the case when one looks at the pitching realities the Cubs are facing next season, especially when it comes to their starting rotation.

Chicago could very well lose their entire end-of-season rotation to free agency (Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, Clay Holmes, Kevin Gausman, David Peterson). Justin Steele may finally be returning, but by the time he throws his first 2027 pitch, it will be nearly two years since he last saw major league duty. Emerging ace Cade Horton will miss most—if not all—of the coming season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Ben Brown, who was becoming the breakthrough pitching star of the Cubs rotation in 2026, was forced on the shelf by a recurring neck problem that looks like it could be a forever thing.

Hoyer and company will have to dip deeply into the free agent market, but there’s no guarantee on how much a team historically averse to spending on pitching will suddenly invest in arms. And given the Cubs’ track record with free agent pitching acquisitions, there’s also no guarantee that purchases will actually pay off.

So, the turnaround of Edward Cabrera will be crucial.

If he can even go back to being the pitcher he was with the 2025 Marlins, the Cubs would be happy. They’d have a solid middle-of-rotation asset that could give them the swing-and-miss presence they’ve long needed and desired. And they’d have one less rotation spot they’d need to fill.

If Cabrera fails again, though, the Cubs will have little more than a costly doorstop who they’re stuck with until after the 2028 season is over and his contract is up.

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Source: https://www.chicitysports.com/chicago-cubs-edward-cabrera-essential-2027-jed-hoyer/