All right, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Edward Cabrera will be 28-years-old in April, he’s only ever thrown more than 100 innings in an MLB season once and last September the right-handed pitcher was placed on the injured list for the 11th time in his career. In other words, there are major durability questions coming with the newest starting pitcher for the Cubs.
It is something that I have pushed aside when first evaluating the trade. Getting Cabrera is still a good move by the Cubs, but it’s not perfect either. There are obvious flaws both on the mound and while Cabrera’s talent does provide a high ceiling his lengthy track record of injuries does temper some expectations.
Cabrera made his MLB debut with the Marlins on Aug. 25, 2021. He made seven starts in his first stint in the majors, but he didn’t quite make it out without an injury. From the end of the 2021 season through 2025, Cabrera has been placed on the injured list eight different times while on the active roster with the Marlins.
Edward Cabrera MLB injured list stints (2021-25)
Oct. 1, 2021: right middle finger blister
June 15, 2022: right elbow tendinitis
Oct. 3, 2022: sprained right ankle
June 17, 2023: right shoulder impingement syndrome
March 28, 2024: right shoulder impingement syndrome
March 27, 2025: right middle finger blister
Sept. 1, 2025: right elbow sprain
Besides the frequency, a few other things stand out. Cabrera has suffered reoccurring blister and shoulder injuries, but the biggest red flag comes from the pitcher’s latest IL stint. The Marlins placed Cabrera on the 15-day injured list year because of an elbow strain and although he did return and make two starts to finish out the regular season his elbow injury definitely raised some eyebrows around the league.
Marquee Sports analyst Lance Brozdowski first shared his immediate reaction to the Cabrera trade on Wednesday and while there was certainly excitement over the move I could not ignore Brozdowski’s comments regarding Cabrera’s medicals.
“I did talk to someone else in baseball and said they were surprised that the Cubs cleared the medicals.”
Then, Brozdowski appeared on the Foul Territory podcast on Thursday, when he once again raised the concern of Cabrera’s late-season elbow surgery.
This isn’t entirely an apples to apples comparison because Justin Steele experienced elbow tendinitis in Sept. 2024, but it was an elbow issue nonetheless. He also returned after being sidelined for a few weeks to end the 2024 season and he was good to go in 2025. However, Steele only made it through four starts before needing to undergo season-ending elbow surgery.
I’m not saying Cabrera is guaranteed to miss a year of action now that he’s with the Cubs, but it should not shock anyone if that does end up happening. That’s just the type of risk the Cubs were willing to take by trading for Cabrera, but as doom and gloom as this may sound, there are reasons why experts believe Cabrera can be an elite starting pitcher for the Cubs.
Cabrera made important improvements in 2025, most notably dropping his walk rate, changing his arm angle, and well he actually stayed healthy for the majority of the season. He has incredible stuff, so it’s not like we’re talking about a pitcher with raw tools. He knows how to execute.
Now, the Cubs have to focus on how to improve the fastball. Sure, averaging 97mph on your fastball is good, but not having much movement, leading to hard contact is worthless.
As far as the injuries go, all I can say is that pitchers miss time. Every single projected starting pitcher in the Cubs rotation has been injured at least once throughout their career, sidelined for weeks/months and longer in some cases. Cabrera has a long list of injuries and all you can hope for is that moving forward they become minimal with the Cubs.
Edward Cabrera can be great for the Cubs. He can also be a bust because of injuries.
