HOUSTON — Oswaldo Cabrera made it a point to watch Juan Soto as often as he could when he’d take batting practice. Cabrera calls Soto the New York Yankees’ “Latin Leader” because of the star’s ability to speak both English and Spanish. In spring, Cabrera, shortstop Oswald Peraza and outfielder Everson Pereira would be in Soto’s presence near the cage to soak up every bit of knowledge of how he maneuvered his bat through the strike zone. When Soto would finish his round of batting practice, he’d demonstrate, like a teacher in front of the classroom, how he moves his bat through the zone.
Cabrera would take mental notes. The ball came off Soto’s bat differently. “What things makes him be the great hitter that he is?” Cabrera said he’d ask himself.
“The one big thing that I see from that guy is he doesn’t try to hit fly balls,” Cabrera said earlier this month. “He’s not trying to hit the ball in the air every time. His hands just get quick to the ball. That’s what got my attention. He’s always trying to hit line drives. When I saw Soto hitting in the cage for the first time, it was low line drives all of the time, so what am I doing trying to hit homers all of the time? I talked with the hitting coaches about it — obviously, Soto and I are not the same. But I’ve been trying to take some of the things he does into my game.”
We found Waldo & Waldo found a 4-hit night 👊 pic.twitter.com/cwaGx9DGWp
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) March 30, 2024
Cabrera started off the spring a woeful 1-for-23, and it seemed possible that despite his positional versatility on the field he’d start the season in Triple A to continue working on offensive consistency. The Yankees were not shy about their desires to upgrade the back of their bench, partly because Cabrera hadn’t shown an ability to hit well enough to be a major league-caliber player. With DJ LeMahieu out an indefinite amount of time with a bone bruise in his right foot, it meant Cabrera would likely be in line for ample playing time.
But Cabrera figured it out at the plate. He introduced a toe-tap approach, the same one Gleyber Torres implemented last season that fueled arguably his best season to date. Cabrera had used the approach before in the minor leagues and mainly in two-strike counts but never this consistently. The thought process behind eliminating a high leg kick in favor of a toe-tap approach is the hitter can simplify his path to the baseball. It’s not as powerful of a swing and minimizes movement in the batter’s box. He worked on the approach in Venezuela this winter but went back to his high leg kick when he arrived in Tampa for spring training because it’s what he was most comfortable with.
When he couldn’t get his rhythm down at the plate, he thought about Soto and how quickly he gets to the ball. Soto uses a leg kick but has some of the quickest hands through the zone in MLB. Not everyone can be as gifted as Soto, but the next best thing for a hitter is figuring out what works for one player and how it can be implemented within their own game. That’s what Cabrera did.
Cabrera finished spring training 9-for-24 with two home runs after switching his approach to favor more contact. Through two games, Cabrera is 6-for-9 with one home run, four RBIs and has been a catalyst at the bottom of the Yankees’ order. On Friday, Cabrera registered his first career four-hit game in New York’s 7-1 win over the Houston Astros.
“I think he’s worked hard on controlling the flight of the ball,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “You hear me talk about not putting your pitch on the net — when you have a good swing and you’re on it but you foul it off. He’s doing a better job when he gets his pitch, putting it on a line. That’s critical in the big leagues. When you get a pitch to handle, you have to make your money there.”
Oswaldo Cabrera: 1st Yankee with 6+ H thru the first two games of a season since Hideki Matsui in 2005
— New York Yankees Stats (@nyyankeesstats) March 30, 2024
Cabrera’s recent surge in the box has solely been from the left side of the plate. The Yankees still view him as a switch hitter, even though he’s considerably better from the left side of the plate. He hit from the right side against Astros starter Framber Valdez on Thursday but didn’t have success. Cabrera said he still believes in his switch hitting ability, but the team has made him swing left-handed against certain left-handed pitchers, including in the eighth inning against Astros reliever Parker Mushinski, which led to a two-run single.
Soto, Cabrera’s muse, has received almost all of the attention through the first two games and has been as advertised, but he’s also been impressed with what he’s seen from the Yankees’ No. 9 hitter.
“Unbelievable. He’s great,” Soto said of Cabrera. “I’m more than happy for him. He’s a guy who’s been grinding throughout the minor leagues and then to see him come up to the league and do what he’s been doing, we all know it’s early but I’m more than excited to keep seeing it. He’s been doing that since spring training.”
The Yankees’ player of the game championship belt was proudly displayed on the back of Cabrera’s chair in front of his locker after Friday’s game. He smiled at it and acknowledged that a two-game sample size doesn’t mean he’s primed for a renaissance season after a disappointing 2023, but it does mean that his time watching Soto work in the cage was time well spent.
“I’m grateful for the things that are happening right now,” Cabrera said. “Like I always say, I have to stay present. I have to keep working on the things I’ve been working on because it’s so early. Tomorrow is another day. We have to keep showing up.”
(Photo of Oswaldo Cabrera: Troy Taormina / USA Today)
