In the minors and as a prospect, Oswaldo Cabrera’s bat has been his calling card, and for good reason. Even with a juiced ball and bandbox minor league parks, switch-hitting middle infielders who can put up nearly 40 homers and 30+ steals over barely 162 games in the high minors don’t grow on trees.
We didn’t see Cabrera up the middle when he hit the big leagues, though. Rated a a 45 fielder and second base-only prospect by FanGraphs prior to the season, the Yankees’ infield logjam and dearth of reasonable outfield options forced him into the grass despite clocking a grand total of four (4) games in the outfield as a minor league.