Oswaldo Cabrera

Oswaldo Alberto Cabrera Mabaricuna

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 200 lb.

• Debut August 17, 2022

• Born March 1, 1999 in Guarenas, Miranda Venezuela

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Biographical Information

Oswaldo Cabrera played on the Venezuelan national team before making his major league debut.

Cabrera made his pro debut in 2016, playing for the DSL Yankees 2, hitting .441/.487/.647 with 15 runs in 19 games and earning a quick promotion to the GCL Yankees East. In 7 games there, he batted .455/.471/.818 with 9 runs and 6 doubles, then moved up to the Pulaski Yankees, where he finally faced a challenge, producing at a .240/.305/.333 clip in 26 games; he had a 919 OPS for the year. He was the youngest player to make an Opening Day roster in the 2017 South Atlantic League. He hit .242/.298/.314 for the Charleston RiverDogs and spent part of the year with the Staten Island Yankees (.289/.337/.344 in 23 G).

In 2018, his batting line for Charleston was .229/.273/.320 while he split 2B and SS with Wilkerman Garcia. The next year, he improved to .260/.310/.378 with 29 doubles for the Tampa Tarpons, bouncing around the infield other than 1B. He tied Ryan McBroom for 5th in the Yankees chain in doubles and was 7th in hits (between Armando Alvarez and Ben Ruta). In the Florida State League, he tied Carlos Cortes for 7th in hits, tied Blake Tiberi for 3rd in doubles and was 7th with 171 total bases (between Luken Baker and Kody Clemens).

Cabrera missed 2020 when the minor league season was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic. Returning in 2021, he hit .256/.311/.492 with 29 doubles, 24 homers, 20 steals in 25 tries and 78 RBI for the AA Somerset Patriots and briefly made it to AAA with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (15 for 30, 2 2B, 3B, 5 HR, 11 R, 11 RBI, 5 BB for a 1.717 OPS!). In the Double-A Northeast, he tied Adley Rutschman for 10th in runs, led in hits (one ahead of Coco Montes), tied David Villar and Mason Martin for 4th in doubles, was second in homers (one behind Josh Lester), led in RBI (3 ahead of Martin), led in total bases (215, 16 ahead of Martin) and tied for third in steals. That was despite missing part of the year playing for Venezuela in the Americas Olympic Qualifier. He only got into one game for Venezuela, pinch-hitting for Diego Rincones in the 9th against the Dominican Republic's Jairo Asencio and flying out. Venezuela did not make the Olympics. That year, he was among the Yankee chain leaders in runs (tied Michael Beltre and Elijah Dunham for 4th), hits (2nd, 11 behind Oswald Peraza), doubles (2nd, 4 behind Anthony Volpe), homers (2nd, 2 behind Dermis Garcia), RBI (1st, 3 ahead of Volpe) and total bases (249, tied Volpe for 1st).

Cabrera made his major league debut towards the end of the 2022 season, after spending time on the injured list and playing 47 games for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he hit .262 with 8 homers and 29 RBIs. His major league debut took place on August 17th when he started at third base and went 0 for 4 in a ten-inning 8-7 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. He quickly showed his versatility, as his next two games were starts at shortstop and in right field, and he also made a start at second base within his first six big league games. He did not hit much at first, falling to .136 on August 22nd, but picked things up after that, with back-to-back three-hit games. He hit his first homer on September 11th and played quasi-regularly until the end of the year, even if he did not have a fixed position (he ended up playing right and left field more than anywhere else), hitting .247 with 6 homers and 19 RBIs in 44 games, for an OPS+ of 108. He also saw regular action in the postseason, going 2 for 19 with the two hits being a double and a homer as the Yankees defeated the Cleveland Guardians in five games in the Division Series, and 0 for 9 in a loss to the Houston Astros in the ALCS.

He spent most of the 2023 season with New York, except for a two-week stint in late July and early August, when he was sent back to AAA. In 115 games, he hit .211/.275/.299, and his 5 homers were fewer than in much more limited playing time the previous season. His OPS+ fell to just 58 as he once again was primarily an outfielder, with some games at third base as well. He was one of a number of disappointing performers on a team that played well below expectations that summer. In 2024, he appeared in 109 games, but was now mainly a third baseman, with occasional starts at second base and first base. His production improved after the previous year's trough, but his OPS+ was still below average, at 88, as he hit .247 with 8 homers and 36 RBIs. He returned to the postseason, but played only sparingly, with just 9 plate appearances spread out over three series; he went 1 for 6 with 3 walks, his only hit being a double, and did not have a plate appearance in two World Series games against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In 2025, he was the starting third baseman for the Yankees over the first six weeks of the season, hitting .243 in 34 games over that span, with an OPS+ of 82. His season was upended on May 12th, when he suffered a gruesome injury in a game against the Seattle Mariners. It should have been a completely routine play, a potential sacrifice fly by Aaron Judge with the Yankees already holding a substantial lead in the top of the 9th, but in trying to circumvent Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, he failed to touch the plate, and in trying to stop to return touch it, he snapped his ankle, and fell to the ground in excruciating pain. While he somehow willed himself to tag the plate, he could not get up and an ambulance had to drive on the field in order to remove him so he could receive medical assistance. His season was over as a result.

His brother Leobaldo Cabrera has played in the minor leagues.

Further Reading

• Josh Kirshenbaum: "Oswaldo Cabrera taken off in ambulance after scary leg injury at home plate", mlb.com, May 13, 2025. [1]
• Bill Ladson: "Jack of all trades, mastering many: Why Cabrera could be key in October", mlb.com, October 3, 2024. [2]

Related Sites

• Oswaldo Cabrera on mlb.com
• BR Register page