O's beat Seattle - Has Cabrera turned the corner?

Daniel Cabrera has pitched great over his past 2 starts, including last night when he pitched 8 innings, struck out 5 and probably most importantly, walked no one. He only gave up 2 runs and 5 hits over those 8 innings and kept the O's in the game and picking up the win after Nick Markickass hit a solo homer in the top of the 8th to break a 2-2 tie. Manager Dave Trembly brought in Sherrill to close out the game, which he was able to do, while earning his 7th save (4 of which have come against his former club).

There are a few questions now that arise for the Orioles and one of them is, has Daniel Cabrera finally turned the corner and started to become the dominant pitcher that the Orioles have said he could be for the past 3 years? Over his past two games, he's pitched 14 innings, only walked 2 batters, and given up 2 earned runs. There are two very important things to consider here - Cabrera's lack of walks and the fact that the Orioles have worked with him to throw his fast ball more, which seems to have helped tremendously. Over his last 3 starts, which was the start of his new "throw your fastball more" philosophy, Cabrera's ERA is 3.74. Its also important to note that the Orioles have won every game Cabrera has started this year. And although he only has 2 wins in the 5 games that he's started, he has no loses and 3 no decisions and has kept the Orioles in the game, a far cry from last year when he led the league in loses, walks allowed and ERA.

Only time shall tell if these is a new Cabrera who will consistently be good and who has turned the corner to possibly future star.

One last note - the O's trade with Seattle seems to be bette and better for the Orioles as time goes on. As someone who was initially opposed to the Bedard trade, I now think MacPhail is brilliant! Don't believe me? Go read Seattle blogs and message boards about the trade and how Seattle fans think they gave up too much...and they're probably right!