Longtime Yankees TV voice, Michael Kay, didn't mince words. When New York Yankees utility man Oswaldo Cabrera crumpled at home plate after a gruesome slide against the Mariners, Kay sounded like a man mourning a career.

"This might be it," Kay said, echoing what many fans were thinking after watching Cabrera's ankle fold awkwardly beneath him. "Bad things should happen to bad people, not good people. And in this case, it happened to a really good guy."

By now, you've seen the play -- Cabrera trying to score on a sac fly, juking the catcher, planting, and then collapsing. It was the kind of injury that makes you wince and look away. Moments later, he was carted off the field. Players were visibly shaken. Trent Grisham teared up in his postgame interview. The clubhouse went silent. The Yankees won that night, but nobody felt like celebrating.

Cabrera, beloved in that clubhouse, wasn't just a utilityman anymore. He'd finally earned consistent reps at third base and was putting together a solid season -- .243 average, 11 RBIs, steady defense, and trademark versatility. He's the guy you root for even if you don't root for the Yankees. Always smiling, always asking how your day is. The type of player who treats a media member or a batboy with the same respect he gives Aaron Judge.

And that's what made Kay's on-air eulogy so heartbreaking. "He was on his way to establishing a foothold on this Yankee team," Kay said. "And then the ankle gave out."

Just three days after the injury, Cabrera underwent surgery on his fractured ankle in New York. The procedure also uncovered ligament damage, which could complicate his recovery. The New York Post wrote that Manager Aaron Boone admitted Friday that a return in 2025 is "probably unlikely," noting that doctors will reassess in 7 to 10 days. "It was a little more involved in there," Boone said, "but all things considered, fairly successful, too."

Cabrera, however, is already looking ahead. "My return to the field begins today," he wrote on social media. "Thanks to you, I feel more motivated than ever... I will return, and I will return even stronger."

He also thanked fans, teammates, agents, and even his coaches -- everyone who sent messages and prayers and visited him in the hospital. That included Aaron Judge, Anthony Volpe, and Aaron Boone, who all went to see him before he was discharged.

"Maybe it's only after going through something like this that you realize the love surrounding us," Cabrera wrote. "This is something my family and I will never forget."

No, Oswaldo Cabrera may not be a superstar. He may never be the centerpiece of a lineup or a Platinum Glove winner. But he's something even rarer in professional sports: universally liked.

Michael Kay said it best: "He treats people with humility. He treats people with kindness. And he treats people that could have no effect whatsoever on his life with dignity."

That doesn't go on the back of a baseball card, but it matters. And it's why -- even if he doesn't play another inning this year -- nobody is writing Cabrera off just yet.

So yes, the road back might be long. There's no guarantee he will play again this season or return at 100%. But if there's one player who'll approach rehab with a smile and gratitude instead of bitterness, it's him.

And when he does return, there's no doubt Yankee Stadium will be ready. Because no matter how long he's out, Oswaldo Cabrera has already cemented something bigger than a starting job: the respect and admiration of an entire organization.