HOUSTON — The smile is always the first thing anyone notices when you walk up to Oswaldo Cabrera at his Yankees locker or encounter him on the field or see him in a restaurant (or anywhere).
Cabrera always seems to be in a great mood. If he knows you, he’s happy to see you. If he doesn’t, he’s happy to meet you.
If he’s not playing well, he’ll freely talk about his struggles with a grin. He’ll say he needs to do better. He’ll assure you that he’s working harder than he ever has for a quick fix.
You believe him because Cabrera talks with so much passion.
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This guy is so likable and so high energy that he’s one of the most popular players in the Yankees clubhouse, probably just a notch down from Aaron Judge.
Everyone respects Cabrera’s baseball talents, too. It’s not easy playing seven positions, and Cabrera, a natural shortstop, plays them all very well. At the plate, he’s a switch-hitter with power and speed.
The 25-year-old Venezuelan does everything but pitch and catch, and he says that he loves the super-utility role because it’s fun moving around from position to position.
Of course he does.
In the summer of 2022, Cabrera embraced learning how to play the outfield when he was in Triple-A. A week later, he got his first call-up and was instantly inserted into the outfield corners. He made dazzling catches like he’d been playing outfield forever.
This spring, Cabrera took up first base so he can be an option there, too. Quickly, he was solid, and it surprised no one in the organization.
On Thursday, Cabrera will be the Yankees’ Opening Day starter at third base with DJ LeMahieu on the injured list.
He’s excited.
He loves the hot corner, too.
“It’s not a new position for me, so I feel that I’m ready to take that,” Cabrera said Monday night after the Yankees’ last of two games in Mexico City against Diablos Rojos.
He’s ready to hit, too, after reinventing his batting approach a little in the offseason.
Changes were needed after Cabrera followed his impressive short rookie season in 2022 (.247, six HR, 19 RBI in 44 games) with a big dud last season (.211, five HR, 29 RBI in 115 games). He didn’t hit much lefty or righty, and there was a recurring problem: He hit too many groundballs. He also struck out a lot.
This winter and all spring, Yankees new hitting coach James Rowson, who was hired in November, and returning assistant hitting coach Casey Dykes worked with Cabrera.
The results weren’t good initially. In his first 1o games, he was 1-for-24. At the time, Cabrera kept smiling and kept the faith that his work would lead to success.
It did.
Before LeMahieu’s injury, Cabrera solidified a spot on the Yankees’ season-opening roster by hitting .346 in his last 11 games to finish the spring with a .213 average.
“I was working from the beginning of spring training with the hitting coaches, Casey and J-Ro,” Cabrera said. “We’ve been working on a lot of things, not new, but things that help me a lot. I feel like that work is getting the results that we want.”
One of Cabrera’s winter changes was a decision to scrap switch-hitting some of the time. Actually, it might turn out that he bats left-handed most of the time. Even though he had a better average facing right-handers last season, .215 to .200, he felt more comfortable hitting lefty.
Late last season, he experimented by hitting left-handed against a lefty in a game. He liked it enough to do it frequently in the offseason when he was back home playing winter ball, then again over the last month in Florida.
“When I played in Venezuela I got a lot of lefty-lefty reps, so right now I feel good (lefty vs. lefty),” Cabrera said. “I faced a lot in spring training lefty-lefty, and all of those at-bats I felt good.”
Cabrera planned to decide before Thursday whether he’ll bat right or left against the Astros starter, lefty Framber Valdez.
“We have to talk about that,” Cabrera said. “I don’t have the right answer right now. Let’s see.”
The Yankees loved what they saw from Cabrera in the second half of spring training.
“Rough year last year,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Tough first couple weeks of spring. I’m excited about what we’re seeing in the last two weeks. He’s really come on stacking quality at-bats. Yeah, he’s getting some results, but it’s more the at-bat quality has been a lot better.
“He’s going to be an important figure for us this year.”
Cabrera never stopped smiling during his tough times, but the immense confidence that he has did take a hit at times last season.
It’s not all the way back because Cabrera knows his couple of good weeks of spring training at-bats need to lead to consistent quality plate appearances in the games that matter.
“I feel like I’ve been working on that, and I feel I’m getting that,” Cabrera said. “You have to keep working every day to keep the same confidence.”
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Randy Miller may be reached at [email protected].
Gregory Daniels is your guide to the latest trends, viral sensations, and internet phenomena. With a finger on the pulse of digital culture, he explores what’s trending across social media and pop culture. Gregory enjoys staying ahead of the curve and sharing emerging trends with his readers.
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