Braves' Cabrera uses talent, work ethic

Rome pitching coach Derrick Lewis has only seen Braves prospect Mauricio Cabrera a handful of times. Despite the short introduction and small sample size, Lewis has already formed a strong impression of the 19-year-old right-hander.

"He can be as good as anybody you've ever seen," said Lewis, who spent seven years in the Braves' Minor League system between 1997 and 2003. "There are no limitations to that.

"He has a gift. He's blessed with size and strength and he just has that thing where he wants to get better. Those are some of the traits you want to see."

On Monday, Cabrera only reinforced his coach's opinion, tossing six one-hit innings in the Class A Braves' 3-0 shutout of the Charleston RiverDogs.

Cabrera (1-1) struck out three batters and issued three walks, lowering his South Atlantic League ERA to 2.63

"He was good," Lewis said. "He got off to a good start and he kept going. He was attacking the zone with his fastball. He got better as the game progressed. He had a good mix going tonight. He was aggressive with the fastball and he was able to mix in his breaking balls."

The 6-foot-2 native of the Dominican Republic yielded a single to Robert Refsnyder -- the third batter of the game -- but that was the only base hit allowed by Cabrera and one of just two surrendered by the Braves.

Cabrera set the side down in order in the second and third innings and he worked around a free pass in each of the following three frames before turning a 3-0 lead over to the bullpen.

Lewis praised how the Braves' No. 7 prospect was not afraid to challenge opponents.

"It was very important, and it's something that not all pitchers learn," he said. "Some players never really get it. But you definitely want to go deep into ballgames and the only way to do that is to pitch to contact and avoid deep counts. You'll walk some guys and you'll get some strikeouts, but ultimately you try to get quick outs."

Cabrera gave up six runs -- three earned -- in his South Atlantic League debut April 5, but he yielded just one over five innings at home to Greensboro last Wednesday. He continued that momentum  Tuesday.

"There was no particular reason [in his debut], it was just the first outing of the year," Lewis explained. "He might have been a little uncomfortable or nervous, well, more amped up than nervous, but he's getting better every day."

On Tuesday, Jeremy Fitzgerald struck out three batters over two innings or relief and Shae Simmons fanned a pair in a perfect ninth to earn his ninth save.

"They were both very aggressive," Lewis said of his relievers. "Fitzgerald was attacking the zone and Simmons was the same way, throwing strikes, pitching down in the zone and getting ahead. They pitched with confidence from the time they entered the ballgame."

Charleston starter Rafael DePaula (0-2) allowed three runs on six hits and a walk while striking out seven batters over six innings in the losing effort.