Oswaldo Cabrera’s first two months as a big leaguer have largely gone without much of a hiccup.
But Friday, in Game 2 of the ALDS, the Yankees standout rookie hit a bump in the road, both in left field and at the plate.
Cabrera could not come up with a tough pop-up in the 10th inning, opening the door for the Guardians in their 4-2 win and he also went 0-for-5 at the plate with three strikeouts, leaving four men on base in the process.
“That type of guy that I was in the game today is not the guy that I’ve always been,” Cabrera said. “Just trying to get that consistency again and just be me.”
After making a strong leaping catch along the left-field wall in Game 1, Cabrera could not add to his defensive highlight reel in Game 2.
Jose Ramirez led off the 10th inning by hitting a weak pop-up to shallow left field. Cabrera and third baseman Josh Donaldson, with the Yankees in the shift, both had a long way to run to the ball. Cabrera was in between on whether to slide or dive before choosing the former and coming up just short.
Oswaldo Cabrera’s first Yankees hiccups came at an inopportune time. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post“I was so far,” said Cabrera, who had never played the outfield in a pro game until three months ago. “I tried to make that play, but that’s baseball. Sometimes you can’t control everything. … It was not easy to dive on that ball because it was coming straight down. It’s my first time with that type of play. I tried.”
Donaldson picked up the ball and threw errantly to second base, allowing Ramirez to reach third, from where he eventually scored the go-ahead run.
After grounding out in each of his first two at-bats, Cabrera came to the plate in the sixth inning with Donaldson at first base. The 23-year-old worked a full count, but struck out on a cutter from Shane Bieber.
Cabrera’s biggest chance came in the eighth inning, when he faced reliever James Karinchak with runners on first and second and one out. But after getting another full count, Cabrera whiffed at a 97 mph fastball.
Then in the bottom of the 10th, Cabrera had one last shot, with Donaldson at first, but he struck out on an Emmanuel Clase slider.
“Probably I was trying to do too much,” said Cabrera, who is 0-for-8 with five strikeouts through two ALDS games.
Across his final 22 games of the regular season, Cabrera hit .293 with six home runs. But his success at the plate has not yet carried over through his first two playoff games.
“[The postseason] is different,” he said. “At the same time, it’s still the same game. The things I did today, that doesn’t [change] who I am. Tomorrow is another day. This is the most beautiful part of baseball.”
