CHICAGO — Edward Cabrera is back with the Cubs, but not in the role Chicago envisioned when it acquired him from Miami. The right-hander was activated from the 15-day injured list Saturday and shifted into the bullpen, turning the final weeks of the regular season into an audition that could determine whether he becomes part of Craig Counsell’s postseason relief plan. The move follows another recurrence of a blister on Cabrera’s right middle finger, the latest disruption in a season already interrupted by multiple injuries. Chicago placed reliever Trent Thornton on the injured list with left ankle soreness in the corresponding roster move.

The Cubs have supplied Cabrera with an unusually ambitious model for what the transition could become: Roki Sasaki. Counsell said the organization discussed Sasaki’s 2025 experience with Cabrera while preparing him for the switch. Sasaki returned from injury late last season as a reliever after struggling to establish himself consistently in the Dodgers’ rotation, then became one of Los Angeles’ most consequential October arms. The comparison is not a prediction. It is a roadmap showing how a pitcher with premium raw stuff can look substantially different when asked to attack hitters for three, six or occasionally more outs instead of navigating a lineup several times.

Sasaki provided an unusually successful version of that conversion. He made nine postseason relief appearances in 2025 and recorded a 0.84 ERA over 10 2/3 innings as the Dodgers completed their championship run. His fastball surged into triple digits in shorter appearances, while his splitter became particularly difficult for hitters when they had less time to adjust. He finished the postseason with three saves and only one earned run allowed. That performance turned what had been a difficult rookie season into an example of how October bullpen deployment can transform both a pitching staff and a player’s year.

Cabrera enters his experiment from a different starting point. He has made 15 starts for Chicago this season, going 5-5 with a 5.68 ERA while striking out 67 and walking 32 over 76 innings. The Cubs originally acquired him to strengthen their rotation, but recurring health problems have prevented him from settling into that job. He has dealt with blister issues twice and also lost a significant stretch of the season because of a left adductor and hamstring injury. His Aug. 16 return lasted only one start before the finger problem put him back on the injured list.

Those setbacks make the bullpen idea partly strategic and partly practical. Fewer pitches per appearance could reduce the stress created by Cabrera’s recurring blister problem, though Chicago has not suggested the role change guarantees the issue will disappear. Counsell has acknowledged that the club has not found a reliable solution to the blister. That uncertainty matters because postseason bullpen value depends not only on velocity and strikeout ability but also on availability. A reliever who cannot comfortably work on irregular schedules or consecutive days creates a different roster challenge than a conventional late-inning arm.

The encouraging sign is what happened to Cabrera’s velocity when the Cubs began preparing him as a reliever. During his Triple-A Iowa rehab assignment, his four-seam fastball averaged 97.8 mph and his sinker averaged 97.7 mph, according to MLB.com, up from 96.2 mph and 96.5 mph respectively in the majors this season. In one later rehab appearance, his four-seamer averaged roughly 99 mph and reached 100. The results themselves were not clean: Cabrera allowed six earned runs over 3 2/3 innings across three Triple-A relief outings. But for Chicago, the increased velocity offered at least a glimpse of why the role change is worth testing.

A shorter assignment can change more than radar-gun readings. Cabrera no longer has to reserve pitches for a second or third trip through an opposing order. He can lean more heavily on his best swing-and-miss offerings, attack with maximum intent and potentially simplify his pitch selection. That does not automatically turn a struggling starter into a high-leverage reliever. Command remains essential, and Cabrera’s 32 walks in 76 innings show why Chicago will likely want to evaluate his strike throwing before giving him the most dangerous late-game situations.

The timing nevertheless makes the experiment important. Chicago entered the weekend firmly involved in the National League postseason picture, while recent bullpen instability had increased the need for another dependable option. Earlier this month, MLB.com reported that Cubs relievers had produced a 6.62 ERA over a 10-game stretch. Chicago has other relief choices, but October often forces managers to shorten their list of trusted pitchers. Cabrera’s ceiling gives Counsell a chance to expand that list rather than merely reshuffle it.

The most realistic path probably begins away from the ninth inning. Cabrera has minimal major-league relief experience, and pitching from the bullpen requires an entirely different preparation routine. Instead of having four or five days to plan for a scheduled start, he must be prepared to warm quickly and enter based on game circumstances. Chicago used his rehabilitation assignment partly to introduce that rhythm. Cabrera has said he is prepared to pitch whenever the Cubs call for him, but the adjustment will be judged in real games rather than bullpen sessions or Triple-A appearances.

That is where the Sasaki analogy becomes useful but also limited. Sasaki’s transformation was extraordinary precisely because most transitions do not become postseason success stories so quickly. His velocity, splitter and ability to handle immediate high-leverage assignments gave Los Angeles a weapon that did not exist a few weeks earlier. Cabrera must first show that his improved relief velocity comes with command, healthy fingers and the ability to recover between appearances. The Cubs do not need him to reproduce a 0.84 postseason ERA to make the move worthwhile. If he becomes a credible middle- or late-inning option who can miss bats and handle multiple innings when necessary, Chicago’s October pitching structure becomes deeper.

The next several appearances therefore carry unusual weight. Cabrera can no longer repair his season by becoming the rotation force Chicago originally expected. He can, however, redefine it. A successful bullpen conversion would give the Cubs another power arm at exactly the stage of the calendar when roster flexibility matters most. Sasaki showed last fall how rapidly a pitcher’s role — and postseason importance — can change. Chicago is betting Cabrera has enough talent to make the comparison worth testing. Whether he becomes the Cubs’ version of Sasaki will depend less on the label than on three things the club can measure immediately: strikes, swing-and-miss stuff and availability when Counsell needs him most.