Now Cabrera is on the disabled list with a hamstring strain, and understandably, owners are stashing him. We now have to live with the uncertainty over how long Cabrera will be out and how healthy he will be when he returns. What we can assess with more certainty is how well Cabrera is likely to perform should he be fully healed when he returns. He worked on his right-handed swing during the offseason, and this season Cabrera has hit .414 versus lefties, as opposed to .195 last season. Over his torrid last 28 games, Cabrera's overall batting average has surged as he has cut back dramatically on his strikeouts, though a .433 BABIP has inflated it somewhat.

It will remain to be seen whether Cabrera will be at 100 percent when he comes back and if he can sustain his recent improvements. Given how he spent his offseason and his minor-league track record of good contact skills, Cabrera is a strong bet to be a top 10 shortstop from the point of his return on forward.

Cabrera was already expected to miss the team's three-game series against the Giants ending Wednesday, and it looks like this injury will cost him a few weeks of action. The move is expected to come Wednesday, if it does. 

"We're going to keep an eye on him for a few days," manager Bud Black said Monday. "We didn't want to be too quick to pull the trigger on the disabled list just yet."

Cabrera suffered the injury during a stolen base attempt Sunday and received treatment for the hamstring Monday.

"It's better to miss two or three games here and come back as quick as I can," Cabrera told MLB.com. "I feel all right. I feel I can play but don't want to play at 50 percent. They said we will give it a couple of days and see how I feel."

Recent acquisition Pedro Ciriaco drew the start at shortstop in Monday's series opener against the Giants.