In Vizquel’s Mold, but All His Own

No one on the team — and perhaps no one in baseball — has sparkled quite like Cabrera. He has hit well, too, with a .294 average and 14 home runs through Friday. But his defense sets him apart.
Asdrubal Cabrera was hitting .236 for the Mariners’ Class AAA team in June 2006 when the Indians acquired him for Eduardo Perez, a veteran first baseman. In 1993, they made a similarly lopsided trade to get Vizquel from the Mariners, dealing Felix Fermin and Reggie Jefferson.
His best might have come May 19 in Chicago, when reliever Joe Smith deflected a ground ball to the hole between short and third. Cabrera, who was ranging up the middle, twisted to spear the ball with his bare hand,The Return of Alex Rodriguez, then flipped behind his back to second baseman Adam Everett, who completed a double play.
“I saw him run back to the dugout and he started laughing, and I started laughing too, like,Cheap Parda Sunglasses, ‘Wow, I made that play to Omar Vizquel,’ ” Cabrera said. “I felt really happy. I enjoyed that moment.”
CLEVELAND — The shortstop for the Cleveland Indians is a dazzling defensive player from Venezuela who switch-hits, wears No. 13 and first belonged to the Seattle Mariners. This was true in the 1990s, when Omar Vizquel helped the Indians to two American League pennants. It is true again today, with Asdrubal Cabrera.
The best part for Cabrera? The hitter was Vizquel, who was one of his idols growing up. Cabrera said he wore No. 13 partly because his birthday is Nov. 13, but also to honor other Venezuelan shortstops who wore it, like Vizquel.
Maybe not; Cabrera is only 25, and Vizquel, 44, is still playing for the Chicago White Sox. But Cabrera has made his first All-Star team, which Vizquel did not do until he was 31, in 1998, when he and Derek Jeter were reserve shortstops for the American League.
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Jim Mcisaac/Getty ImagesAsdrubal Cabrera leads infielders in the majors in ESPN “Web Gem” points.
Cabrera was named as a backup shortstop to Jeter, who will skip Tuesday’s All-Star Game in Phoenix to rest his left calf. Jeter won the fan vote for the sixth year in a row, but Cabrera finished second by collecting more than four million votes, or 89.8 percent of Jeter’s total. Fans are noticing a player whose acrobatics make him a highlight regular. No infielder in the majors has matched Cabrera for “Web Gem” points, as calculated by ESPN.
“This guy has the best hands I’ve ever seen, hands down,” said Indians second baseman Orlando Cabrera, a two-time Gold Glove shortstop. “It’s automatic. It’s just like his hands are so beautiful. He and I we know that this infield is bad out here, and he makes it look like he’s playing on turf. Even when he gets an in-between bounce, he never looks uncomfortable. Every play that he makes is just so easy.”
Smith said Cabrera and third baseman Jack Hannahan had been especially important to the Indians, whose strong season has been one of the best stories of baseball’s first half.
With Vizquel, though, the Indians knew who they were getting; he had just won the first of 11 Gold Glove awards. With Cabrera, they had to project. Antonetti, then the assistant general manager, said the Indians liked Cabrera’s approach at the plate and his defensive instincts, which have led to remarkable plays in the field.
“You put a ball on the ground, especially to the left side of the diamond,New York Yankees Hats, it’s getting eaten up,” Smith said. “It’s awesome, because our whole staff is sinkerballers. Last year, we kind of struggled defensively, but this year, our defense has been outstanding.”
“Omar’s a once-in-a-generation player, maybe a once-in-a-lifetime player with his defensive abilities and all the things he was able to do,” said Chris Antonetti, the Indians’ general manager. “I think Asdrubal is on his way to carving out his own mark and his own spot in the league. But to compare him to Omar, I don’t think it’s fair to either one.”
“I’ve played for a long time,” said Orlando Cabrera, a 15-year veteran. “I’ve seen good hands. I’ve seen Vizquel, Neifi Perez, Jeter. I’ve seen guys that can pick it, especially Venezuelan guys. I’m telling you, this guy is on his own — on another level.”