In 2005, Cabrera started off with the Trenton Thunder of the Double-A Eastern League, hitting .275 with 60 RBIs in 106 games. At the end of June, he was promoted to the Columbus Clippers of the Triple-A International League, where he hit .324 with three homers and 11 RBIs in nine games. On July 7, he made his major league debut in center field at Yankee Stadium against the Cleveland Indians. He collected his first major league hit, a single, in his third at-bat that day. The next day he went 2-for-3 against Cleveland Indians pitcher Cliff Lee, scoring his first major league run, but then went 0-for-his-next-13 and made costly miscues, including one on July 15, 2005, against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, misplaying a Trot Nixon fly ball that resulted in an inside-the-park home run during a 17–1 defeat. He was sent down to Triple-A Columbus the next day for 17 games and then demoted again, back to Double-A Trenton to finish out the season. Cabrera played 6 Major Leagues games batting .211.