Ramón Cabrera

Ramón Salvador Cabrera

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 197 lb.

• Debut September 5, 2015
• Final Game October 2, 2016
• Born November 5, 1989 in Caracas, Distrito Capital Venezuela

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Biographical Information

Ramón Cabrera is the son of international slugger Alex Cabrera. A minor league batting champion, Ramón played 74 games with the Cincinnati Reds.

Ramon was signed initially by Pittsburgh Pirates scouts Rene Gayo and Rodolfo Petit. He hit .264/.367/.404 in his pro debut with the 2008 VSL Pirates, tying for 4th in the Venezuelan Summer League in doubles (16) and tied for 10th in walks (28) while throwing out 40% of attempted base stealers. In 2009, he was with the VSL Pirates (.312/.400/.468, 19 RBI in 20 games) and the GCL Pirates (.291/.372/.417 in 37 game). The switch-hitter batted .269/.312/.342 for the 2010 West Virginia Power and only caught 21% of those who tried to steals. He did lead South Atlantic League catchers in fielding percentage (.990). He had a very good 2011 at the plate for the Bradenton Marauders (.343/.410/.471) though he only caught 12% of base stealers. He led Pirates farmhands in average (11 points ahead of Starling Marte) and also paced the Florida State League by .022 ahead of Elevys Gonzalez. He was also 4th in the FSL in OBP (behind Tyler Bortnick, Robbie Grossman and Brent Wyatt), 8th in slugging (between teammates Adalberto Santos and Aaron Baker) and 3rd in OPS (behind Kyle Jensen and Darin Ruf) while leading catchers with 14 passed balls. He failed to make the FSL All-Star team as A.J. Jimenez and Sebastian Valle were picked at catcher.

In his Venezuelan Winter League debut, Ramón hit just .179/.292/.232 for the Leones del Caracas. He spent most of 2012 with the Altoona Curve, hitting .276/.342/.367 as their main catcher; he also went 2 for 5 with a double for the Indianapolis Indians. He was the third-hardest batter in the Eastern League to strike out, with only 44 strikeouts in 389 at bats. He had a better winter for Caracas (.267/.309/.333) then went 14 for 29 in the playoffs. He was dealt by Pittsburgh to the Detroit Tigers for Andy Oliver in the winter. In 2013, he was mainly a DH for the Erie SeaWolves (.304/.392/.388; James McCann was their main catcher) and Toledo Mud Hens (.242/.311/.336 in 39 games); his 31 doubles tied Wade Gaynor and Hernan Perez for second in the Detroit chain, behind prospect Nick Castellanos. Ramón was playing for Caracas in 2013-2014 when his still-active father set a new VWL season home run record.

Ramón made his big league debut not with Detroit or Pittsburgh but the Cincinnati Reds, whose organization he joined as a minor league free agent prior to 2015. He was a September call up in his first year, seeing action in 13 games, and spent a fair amount of time with the club in 2016 as a backup. In 74 games, he hit .264/.291/.378 with 4 home runs. The Reds cut him loose after the latter season. He spent a season in the Miami Marlins organization before moving to the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League for two seasons.

Some sources give his place of birth as Cumana, Sucre, and not Caracas.

Sources

• 2012 Pirates Media Guide
• 2013 Tigers Media Guide
• Purapelota
• 2010-2011 Baseball Almanacs

Related Sites

• Ramon Cabrera on mlb.com