Cabrera's impending return gives Cubs crucial starting depth after Deadline

KANSAS CITY -- Edward Cabrera listened in from a neighboring locker inside Kauffman Stadium’s visitors’ clubhouse on Friday, as lefty Braxton Garrett discussed being traded to the Cubs at the Deadline. At one point, Garrett mentioned being excited to reconnect with Cabrera after coming up together in the Marlins’ farm system.

“I was just telling him earlier how good his English is now,” Garrett said. “When we first met? Nada.”

Well, how is Garrett’s Spanish coming along?

“Malo,” Garrett said with a laugh.

Garrett is currently on the Cubs’ active roster as a bulk option out of the bullpen, offering some “insurance” behind the rotation, as manager Craig Counsell explained the situation. Cabrera is currently on the 15-day injured list, but is two starts into a Minor League rehab assignment with a third start set for Tuesday with Double-A Knoxville.

Cabrera is heading to Double-A, because Triple-A Iowa is scheduled to play in the MiLB Field of Dreams Game on Tuesday.

While trading for Garrett at Monday’s Deadline was a move more about the future -- the lefty is under control through 2028 -- the Cubs’ deal with Miami for Cabrera over the offseason was very much about the present. After this upcoming rehab outing, it is possible that the hard-throwing righty will be deemed ready to rejoin Chicago’s rotation.

“If it was up to me, I’d be ready to suit up with the team,” Cabrera said via team translator Fredy Quevedo Jr. “But there’s programs that you have to follow and that you have to complete.”

During Wednesday’s rehab outing with Triple-A Iowa, Cabrera built up to four innings and 55 pitches, ending with eight strikeouts, no walks, one unearned run and one hit allowed. The righty sat around 97 mph with his fastballs and reached back to touch 99 mph. He generated 11 swinging strikes along the way.

It was a positive step for Cabrera, whose Cubs tenure to date has been a tale of two time periods. He came out of the gates on solid footing with a 3.27 ERA in his first seven turns, but then posted a 7.55 ERA in his next seven appearances. Cabrera missed time with a blister issue and then hit the IL a second time with a left hamstring/adductor strain in late June.

“He got off to a pretty good start,” Counsell said. “We think we can get a good version of Cabby going … for the last six weeks or so of the season, and not maybe having as much mileage under him sets it up to be a good six weeks.”

When Cabrera does return, he will step into a rotation that has since been fortified with the Trade Deadline additions of veteran righties Kevin Gausman and Clay Holmes. The group also has Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, David Peterson, Javier Assad and Colin Rea as options. With the Deadline acquisitions and Cabrera’s return looming, there is solid depth right now.

The 29-year-old Garrett is a layer of depth behind that group, but the Cubs see potential for the future. As recently as 2023, he had a 4.3 bWAR to go along with a 3.66 ERA in 159 2/3 innings for the Marlins. Garrett then missed ‘25 due to Tommy John surgery on his left elbow, but has had a solid showing (2.90 ERA in 77 2/3 innings) this year with Triple-A Jacksonville.

“He’s a super talented pitcher,” Cabrera said. “I was really happy to reunite with him again. In 2016, we were in the Rookie League. We played together. And now 10 years later, we reunite once again.”

Garrett knows he may need to wait for his turn in the Cubs’ rotation.

“We talked about that yesterday with Braxton,” Counsell said. “I told him, I said, ‘You understand what happened at the Deadline and you’re a bit of insurance for this team right now. But, this is also a new team and so, the next two days may be just as important just kind of getting to know some of our pitching language, and how we’re going to talk about pitching, and what we see for you kind of moving forward.

“‘Because, if it’s not a big role this year, we could envision one next year.’”

Garrett appreciated the transparency from the Cubs.

“I’m so pumped to be here,” Garrett said. “[Counsell] wants me to get in with all the pitching guys, work with them as much as I can, and continue to get better. When my name’s called here, I’m out there to be an out-getter, and that’s what I’ll do.”