Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Next up in our MLB Draft Profile series is on one of the safer prospects in the draft who has a decent chance of being an impact bat. This is LSU’s Daniel Cabrera.
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Previous Entries
- RHP Bobby Miller, Louisville (May 15)
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Vitals
6’1, 196 pounds
Position: Outfield
Bats: Left
Throw: Left
DOB: Sept. 5, 1998
Location
Baton Rouge, La.
Year: Junior
Rankings
The Athletic: HM*
Baseball America: 41
ESPN: 72
FanGraphs: 25
MLB Pipeline: 38
Perfect Game: 39
*Honorable Mention; 30 prospects ranked
Slot Recommended Bonus (No. 29): $2,424,600
Note: All information of draft prospects compiled from Internet sources, scouting reports and videos.
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The Dodgers are no strangers to drafting college bats. They’re no strangers to drafting college bats who have relatively high floors and a decently high ceiling. That’s who they drafted last year in Kody Hoese (No. 25) and Michael Busch (No. 31). This year, that player could very well be Cabrera.
Now, don’t confuse high floor with lack of upside. Cabrera has a lot of upside. He has a quiet setup with and employs a moderate leg kick. His sweet left-handed swing leads some to believe there’s a chance he can get to his plus-raw power because of the natural loft. As of now, he has a strong line drive approach to all fields thanks to plus-bat speed. He also controls the strike zone well and doesn’t expand too frequently. He has performed against all kinds of pitchers since high school, and faced his fair share of top-notch hurlers in the SEC, so that lends legitimacy to his bat translating to the pros. In my first Big Board post, I said his offensive profile reminded me of Michael Conforto or Trevor Larnach. That would probably be the best-case scenario (Conforto, especially). Now, I’m seeing a lot of Andre Ethier in his game, which, yeah, that’ll play.
Defensively, Cabrera profiles best in a corner. He’s athletic enough to maybe give it a shot in center field, but his ultimate home is probably left field. If he has to play right, his arm is no worse than average there. He runs decently enough, but his straight line speed is better than his game speed, so don’t expect a lot of stolen bases.
Video
Videos courtesy of Baseball America, Perfect Game and Prospects Live.
There’s a lot to like with Cabrera. He has performed against top competition, his floor is relatively high and he could take a step forward in the right developmental system. And if we’ve seen anything over the last half-decade, the Dodgers have a top-flight developmental system.
He’s a junior and, like all college juniors this year, will have a little leverage. But if the Dodgers take him at 29, they’ll be very confident he’ll sign for slot or lower, seeing as he isn’t ranked as highly by some publications.
