Meet Cabrera’s changeup, a pitch so ‘nasty’ it made a hitter flail his own helmet off

MARYVALE, Ariz. -- Cubs catcher Moisés Ballesteros positioned himself on one knee, holding up his glove in the heart of the zone for Edward Cabrera. The hard-throwing righty then unleashed his signature changeup, which only briefly flirted with a trajectory to that visual target.

The pitch broke down sharply, veering away from the bat of Brewers leadoff man Sal Frelick. In an effort to halt his swing, Frelick lost his helmet, which popped off and fell to the dirt. Cabrera had a strikeout one batter into Wednesday’s Cactus League start and was off and running against Milwaukee.

“Cabrera is a nasty guy,” Ballesteros said after the Cubs' 4-1 win over Milwaukee at American Family Fields of Phoenix. “Every pitch is nasty.”

And that changeup?

“Really nasty,” he said.

There is more to Cabrera than that pitch, but it is the star of a powerful arsenal that has intrigued the Cubs for years. His potential as an ace-in-the-making was a driving force in Chicago’s front office trying repeatedly to pry him away from the Marlins, doing so successfully in a blockbuster trade in January.

Marlins fans are plenty familiar with the changeup that leads Cabrera’s repertoire, but Cubs fans are just getting acquainted. It is a changeup in name and classification, but the right-hander throws it harder than many fastballs seen around the game. In a fastball-obsessed world, this is a pitch that goes against traditional thinking.

“I just think it’s a hard one for everybody to wrap their head around,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said.

What Counsell meant was that the typical take on a power pitcher is that the fastball (especially one that can sit around 97-98 mph) comes first. When it comes to Cabrera, his heaters (sinker and four-seam) reside lower in his five-pitch package. He needs the higher velocity to help the changeup’s effectiveness, but the changeup is No. 1 in his pitch power rankings.

“We faced him in Miami last year,” Cubs catcher Carson Kelly said. “It was gross.”

Per Statcast, Cabrera threw his changeup 25.8% of the time last year, following three seasons hovering in the 31-32% range. His four-seamer was used about 27% across ‘23-24, but then dropped to fifth among his pitches at 13% last year. Cabrera also leans on a curveball and slider to round out his offerings.

Cabrera’s changeup stands out, because he throws it in the 93-95 mph range. He averaged 94.2 mph with the pitch last year. For perspective, there were 187 starting pitchers in 2025 whose four-seamers were 94 mph or lower (min. 50 results), according to Statcast. For Cabrera, it helps create a middle velocity tier between his fastballs and breaking balls.

Calling it a “changeup” does not fully capture the pitch, but that is how it fits given the rest of what Cabrera throws.

“You can call it a changeup. I’m not going to fight you on that,” Counsell said. “What I’m going to fight you on is [the idea of], like, ‘He doesn’t throw his fastball enough.’ … It just doesn’t matter. Just throw your best pitches.”

Per Statcast, Cabrera allowed a .583 slugging percentage and .661 expected slugging percentage with his four-seam fastball last year. The sinker was not much better, resulting in an identical slugging percentage and a .605 xSLG in 2025. The strength of his entire repertoire still led to a career year, in which Cabrera had a 3.53 ERA and 150 strikeouts against 48 walks in 137 2/3 innings.

What really drove the breakout performance was an improvement in command. Cabrera saw his walk rate drop to 8.3% last year -- down from 12% in 2024 and 15.2% in ‘23. During one standout 16-start stretch between May 4 and Aug. 8, Cabrera spun a 2.22 ERA and trimmed his walk rate to 6.8% in that run.

Really, that is what it all comes down to for Cabrera and the Cubs. There will be tweaks and adjustments as they work together over time, but the main goal for this spring and season ahead is to continue to concentrate on throwing strikes and expanding the zone by design.

“Attacking the zone,” Cabrera said via translator Fredy Quevedo Jr. “That’s what I’m focusing on and that’s what I did today.”

Against the Brewers, Cabrera threw 31 of his 45 pitches for strikes across 2 2/3 innings, ending with two strikeouts, one walk and two hits allowed. He led with that changeup (36%) and used the four-seamer 29% of the time. The righty said the goal with his heaters is to learn “when to use it” more, “instead of just using it to use it.”

Everyone knows the changeup will be used plenty.

“I get to catch it now, which I think is a little bit better,” Kelly said. “It’s explosive.”