Sometimes, especially rookies of the St. Louis Cardinals, players make a big jump up to the Majors and catch lightning in a bottle and perform like superheroes for some time. Jeremy Hazelbaker, Pete Kozma, Bo Hart, Hector Luna and even Paul DeJong all captured lightning and rode it to a hot streak that carried the team for some time.
The Cardinals were hoping that this same effect would take place with young rookie Genesis Cabrera, even though his overall minor league numbers weren’t stellar this year. A 6.35 ERA at Memphis, even after two good starts in a row prior to his call-up, was already a sign that he needed some more work.