PITTSBURGH — Oswaldo Cabrera opened eyes with the way he played for the Yankees late last season. He has finally gotten back to that level of play.
Is it another September tease or a sign of things to come? The Yankees need it to continue.
Cabrera reached base four times on Friday in a win over the Pirates, then belted his first home run since June 3 on Saturday as the Yankees won 6-3.
That continued a strong week in which he has hit 8-for-22 with three extra-base hits and five walks in six games, putting together what manager Aaron Boone said have been his best at-bats of the season.
“I feel more like myself,” Cabrera said before the game Saturday at PNC Park.
The Yankees were banking on Cabrera to continue his success from last season, or at least to come close to it, this year, which he began as their starting left fielder.
But instead it has been a disappointing season for the 24-year-old utilityman, who has been unable to capitalize on his strong late-season cameo in 2022.
Three times this season, the Yankees have sent Cabrera to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in an attempt to get him back on track offensively.
But across those three stints, he only played in 10 Triple-A games before he was needed back in the majors due to injuries elsewhere on the roster.
Because of his offensive struggles, Cabrera’s playing time was sporadic until late August, when the Yankees turned their focus to the future with their playoff hopes all but extinguished.
In 13 games since Aug. 28, with more regular playing time, Cabrera is batting .300 with a .854 OPS.
In 89 games before that, the switch-hitter batted .206 with a .568 OPS.
“Really excited about the way he’s swinging the bat [of late],” Boone said. “All year, it’s just been a struggle to — I’ve talked about fouling pitches off or fouling pitches to the net, especially good fastballs.
The last several days, he’s on the fastball and line drives all over the field. You see the impact he has, just as another tough lefty when he’s going well. Does some things on the bases, obviously really versatile in the field.
“Really excited about it, because he’s such a grinder too and he has not stopped working, trying to get through it. I feel like this is the best week offensively I’ve seen from him all year long. He’s playing for a lot. He is an important part of what we do because of his versatility.”
Through the end of June, Cabrera was batting 18-for-91 (.198) against fastballs. Since then, he was batting 12-for-37 (.324) against fastballs, including 4-for-6 in his last two games before Saturday.
“I’ve been working so much,” Cabrera said. “Just trying to find a way. I’ve been changing little things like my load, stay more on my legs. But at the same time it’s little things.”
Cabrera’s presence, and production, could become even more important next season.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa filled a utility role well for the Yankees this year, but he is set to become a free agent this offseason.
The Yankees tried Cabrera as their starting left fielder to begin this season, only to subsequently start 10 different players there, with none of them producing consistently enough to put a stranglehold on the job.
Cabrera, however, may be at his best as a versatile player who moves around the field.
In order for that to happen, though, the Yankees need him to continue hitting as he has lately.
“In the moment that they sent me to Triple-A, when I got there I was with my hitting coach [Trevor Amicone] down there and I spoke with him a lot about this situation that I was going through,” Cabrera said. “He changed my mind — nothing in the field. He talked to me like, ‘You’ve been doing this many times. You’ve been a good hitter.’ The things that I’ve been changing was to get better, but that doesn’t work for me.
“So for that reason, it’s just try to get back to who I am, who I was in the past. And for that reason, when I come in here, I work with more confidence. That’s what I’m working on, that Oswaldo-type game, that energy all the time.”
