News
Cabrera gaining wisdom while shelved
Shortstop picking brains on bench, starting rehab process
By Corey Brock / MLB.com
05/05/09 9:08 PM ET
SAN DIEGO -- It has been a little over two weeks since rookie shortstop Everth Cabrera suffered a broken bone in his left hand during an at-bat while the Padres were playing in Philadelphia.At the time of the injury -- a broken hamate bone to be exact, an injury that figures to keep him from playing for another month -- Cabrera was hitting .308 in 13 at-bats with no errors in four starts at shortstop.
For the past two-plus weeks, the 22-year-old Rule 5 Draft pick has sat, watched and started his rehabilitation. The cast he wore after surgery -- he has a scar on the inside of his palm -- is gone, and he only wears a protective sleeve while working out.
Cabrera has been running, but he hasn't resumed hitting or throwing yet -- though he expects to do so in the next few weeks. That could put him on target for a Minor League rehab stint sometime on or around June 1.
The initial diagnosis for his return after surgery was six-to-eight weeks.
"This has been the hardest thing I've been though," Cabrera said. "But I'm still trying to get better even though I'm not playing. I'm asking questions. I think that even if you're not playing, you can learn a lot."
That means picking the collective brain of his teammates, manager Bud Black and third-base coach Glenn Hoffman, who works with the infielders.
"It's not any one person, you try to talk to and learn from everyone," Cabrera said.
Those conversations haven't been lost on Black, who doesn't feel Cabrera's growth as a player has to be stunted because of the injury and his absence from the lineup.
"The experience he's getting, the conversations on the bench with Major League players, I think, can only be helpful," Black said.
Cabrera, who hadn't played above the Class A level before this season, was selected in the Rule 5 Draft in December. He led all Minor Leaguers with 73 stolen bases in 2008 while playing with the Rockies' Class A entry in the South Atlantic League.
Cabrera struggled defensively early in Spring Training, making eight errors. He played better as spring wore on and figured to get a lot of playing time during the regular season at shortstop, even with Luis Rodriguez on the roster.
"We saw tremendous strides in shortstop technique," Black said. "You can tell he adapted quickly to a new position. We saw the arm and the range. In Spring Training, he was trying to be a little too quick, and we saw some bobbles. But he got those smoothed out.
Corey Brock is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
