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We spent so many years saying, "If only Edward Cabrera figures out how to throw strikes consistently," that I had pretty much given up on the possibility that it might actually happen. 

Cabrera's always had high-end stuff. That hasn't been the issue. His fastball has always sat comfortably in the high-90s, with a changeup that comes in harder than a lot of Hall of Famers' fastballs, plus a curveball and slider with significant movement and velocity. The pieces to be an impact arm were always there.

But his command has never been anywhere close to MLB-quality, especially on his four-seam fastball. And that's the pitch that is supposed to be the easiest to command – there's a reason most pitchers throw their four-seamers most often when they are behind in the count. But that hasn't really been Cabrera's approach, because he's never had the ability to throw the fastball where he wants to consistently.

But that all appears to be changing, and the best stretch of Cabrera's career culminated in the best start of his career Tuesday against the Twins. And, it shouldn't come as a surprise, given the previous paragraph, that this has all come with Cabrera basically ditching that four-seamer.

On Wednesday, Cabrera threw that pitch just five times on 93 pitches. He led the way with his changeup (which has long been typical for him), with his slider coming in second with a 24% usage rate. And then? The sinker, which has become the go-to heater for Cabrera this season. 

Cabrera is losing some swing-and-miss potential by switching from the four-seamer to the sinker, but at least when the sinker gets hit, and it's not like the sinker is the kind of elite groundball pitch you see from other pitchers – his average launch angle allowed on the pitch is 12 degrees, significantly higher than the league average of 5 degrees on sinkers. In fact, Cabrera's sinker hardly looks like a good pitch on its own, with a .396 expected wOBA allowed on the pitch entering this start. But that's a lot better than the .497 mark allowed on the four-seamer (it was .426 last season), and if he commands the pitch better and tunnels it better with the rest of his arsenal, it's very obviously a change worth making.

That's not the only chance Cabrera has made. As Eno Sarris noted a few weeks ago, Cabrera lowered his arm angle and has had significantly better command since the start of May. Add it all up, and he's down to a 2.05 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in that time, with a 26.2% strikeout rate and 9.0% walk rate. That walk is still higher than you'd like, but it's a lot better than Cabrera's career 12.8% rate – and his 17.2% K-BB% rate would be the 25th-best in baseball among qualifiers for the season. That's good enough.

Cabrera isn't an ace all of a sudden, of course. Even in this great stretch, he has as many starts of four or fewer innings as quality starts (two each), and he's still backed by a mediocre team, albeit one currently riding an eight-game winning streak! But this is clearly the best we've ever seen from Cabrera, and it's the first time we've ever really seen something that looks like sustainable success from him before. Maybe he'll lose the feel for his improved command and turn back into a pumpkin, but this is the kind of stretch we've been literally waiting years for from Cabrera. He's only 52% rostered right now, so I suggest you go ahead and add him just in case these past two months represent him finally living up to his potential. 

Here's what else you need to know about from Tuesday's action around MLB: 

Wednesday's top waiver-wire targets

Brandon Woodruff, SP, Brewers (86%) – Woodruff isn't actually widely available at this point, so I'm kind of shoe-horning him in here in the waiver-wire segment because he's going to make his season debut this weekend against the Marlins, and I don't want that news to get buried. Mostly because … I don't think Woodruff actually needs to be rostered in nearly as many leagues as he is at this point. Woodruff hasn't pitched at the MLB level since September of 2023 due to serious shoulder surgery, and while his results have been solid on his rehab assignment, I just don't think that's going to translate against major-league hitters. Woodruff has a 2.79 ERA across 10 starts, seven of them at Triple-A, and despite the solid run prevention mark, everything else looks like a shell of himself. Most specifically, the fastball velocity is down from 95.8 mph in 2023 to just 91.9 so far, which is a big concern for a pitcher who was as fastball dependent as Woodruff before the injury. Of the 74 strikeouts he generated in 2023, for example, 52 came on either the four-seamer or sinker. His four-seamer was one of the truly elite pitches in baseball, consistently generating whiff rates in the 30% range while limiting damage on contact. It's not impossible that Woodruff could do the same with a 92 mph fastball, but that doesn't seem like a bet you should be making. If you already have him on your roster, it's fine to keep him around, but unless he really impresses this weekend – I'm talking more than a strikeout per inning, preferably with impressive swing-and-miss numbers – I don't think he looks like someone who needs to be held on to once you can't just slide him into an IL spot. 

Kyle Stowers, OF, Marlins (65%) – Given Stowers' limited track record, it seemed reasonable enough to respond to a 31-game homerless streak by writing his hot start off as just that. But Stowers doesn't want to be cast aside with the likes of early-season flashes in the pan like Zach McKinstry or Kristian Campbell, and he's made himself Fantasy relevant again with four homers in his past eight games, including one Tuesday as part of a two-hit game against the Twins. Stowers is back up to a .283/.359/.509 line for the season, and while the batting average especially feels pretty unsustainable, the underlying numbers actually suggest he might have underperformed his power metrics to date. I don't know if I buy Stowers as a high-.800s OPS bat in perpetuity, but if he's just a flash in the pan, that pan's been hot for a pretty long time. Might as well stick with him until the wheels fall off, if I can mix my metaphors. 

Andre Pallante, SP, Cardinals (34%) – I think this one was mostly about the matchup, as Pallante silenced the Pirates over seven innings with just one run allowed but also just three strikeouts to two walks. Pallante gets a ton of groundballs, but that's about all he does at an above-average level, with average-ish walk rates and very weak strikeout rates. That's not to say he can't be useful, of course, but Pallante is probably only as good as his matchups. The good news is that he's currently projected to be a two-start pitcher next week with matchups against the Nationals and Braves on the way. Those are pretty good matchups, which makes Pallante a pretty good streaming target. 

Shay Whitcomb, 3B, Astros (2%) – I hope the Astros give Whitcomb a chance to play some after he was recalled with Jeremy Peña placed on the IL Tuesday. Whitcomb hasn't done much at the MLB level, but he also hasn't really gotten many chances – just 55 plate appearances spread across a few different promotions over the past year or so. He has remained a very productive hitter at Triple-A, hitting .280/.360/.582 this season with 19 homers, and he even added 26 steals to go along with 25 homers in 108 games last season. He's worth a look in AL-only leagues, especially with his demonstrated ability to play second base, third base, and even a little bit of shortstop, along with the outfield corners.