Afternoon Baseball

Melky Cabrera is 23 now, but 2007 is his age-22 season.
Here's his numbers, in a year where he's had two prolonged slumps:
146 games, 147-531, .277/.329/.395; 8 HR, 8 3B, 23 2B, 71 RBI, 65 R, 41 BB, 65 K 13-18 SB

The good: He has 14 outfield assists (MLB-best 12 in center), and he's managed 71 RBI hitting leadoff or at the bottom of the lineup.
The bad: His OPS+ is 95, and it was 100 last year. You could theoretically get anyone to hit like he's hit. His value is largely in defense.

How good is his defense? It's clear his arm is stronger than most center fielders, and he definitely gets to balls and affects baserunning in ways Bernie Williams and Johnny Damon never did. For what it's worth, Cabrera's range factor and range factor per 9 innings are listed as below league average on Baseball-Reference, but he is third among MLB center fielders.
His zone rating in center field this year is .900, far better than his .816 last year. That ranks him seventh in baseball, behind generally well-regarded fielders such as Grady Sizemore, Carlos Beltran, and Torii Hunter, and ahead of Aaron Rowand, Mike Cameron, Ichiro, and Andruw Jones.
His left-field zone rating of .912, while compiled in only 146 innings, would place him fourth in baseball were he to qualify.

So his defense, for now, is doing enough. Will his hitting come around?

The OPS+ of other center fielders at age 22:
Mickey Mantle: 158
Ken Griffey Jr.: 148
Andruw Jones: 126
Grady Sizemore: 125
Carlos Beltran: 99
Vernon Wells: 98 (in 96 at-bats)
Bernie Williams: 91 (in 320 at-bats)
Coco Crisp: 84 (in 127 at-bats)
Darin Erstad: 81 (in 208 at-bats)

A couple examples are unfair. But while many deride Erstad, for instance, no one can deny he's fashioned a nice career for himself. And Bernie spent a decade and a half being a slow starter.

It's too early to judge Melky's career, and wise to hang on to him while he treads water offensively. After all, lots of the best center fielders of recent memory (Kenny Lofton, Aaron Rowand, Jim Edmonds, Steve Finley) spent their age-22 season in the minors. Melky's quick development is a hopeful sign for the future.