Pittsburgh Pirates sign former Toronto Blue Jays left-handed reliever

Cabrera, 28, has some major league success on his track record but has been inconsistent.

Since he can't be optioned to the minors, he has bounced around the league this year. He started the year with the Mets on a minor league deal.

That club called him up and put him into six games before designating him for assignment.

He cleared waivers, elected free agency and then signed with the Cubs.

He made nine appearances for Chicago before the process repeated, with the southpaw again getting designated for assignment and electing free agency in recent days.

Between those two clubs, he has a 6.35 earned run average in 17 innings on the year.

His 21.1% strikeout rate and 8.5% walk rate are both close to average but the home run has been a problem.

He's already allowed five, halfway to his personal high, a rate of 19.2% per fly ball.

Ultimately, it's a small sample of work. As mentioned, he had good seasons in the past. In 2021, he tossed 70 innings for the Cardinals with a 3.73 ERA. His 12.2% walk rate was high but he struck out 26% of batters faced.

In the years to come, his walk rate would stay a bit on the high side but the punchouts would oscillate.

He only struck out 16.5% of batters faced in 2022, got that back up to 24.3% in 2023, but it dipped again to 18.5% last year.

The Pirates have lost two former Blue Jays lefty relievers to the injured list, with Ryan Borucki and Tim Mayza both currently on the shelf.

Cabrera can slot in alongside Caleb Ferguson and give the Bucs a second southpaw in the relief corps.