Every year at MLB Spring Training, there’s at least one player who plays surprisingly well and earns a spot on the roster.
In 2023, that player just may be Jake Cave.
The 30-year-old outfielder, claimed by the Philadelphia Phillies off waivers on Dec. 2, has been impressive.
Cave started Grapefruit League action 5-for-9 with a double, triple and home run in three games. He crushed a 427-foot two-run homer to right-center field in the second inning Wednesday in Fort Myers, Fla.
Ask Cave why he’s been successful and the answer seems logical.
"I know when I'm healthy, I can bring some things to the table," Cave told reporters. "I'm just trying to show that. I'm 30 but I feel just as strong, just as fast as I've ever felt in my life. I'm in a pretty good spot. It was an injury thing. I broke my back in 2021. I think that was a big deal because I'd been feeling that for a while. I don't know how it happened but it happened. In 2021, I was hurting to start the year but played through it.
“Then I eventually got an MRI and broke an L5. So 2020, the COVID year, I wasn't happy with my production and 2021, I was hurt a lot. But I was happy with last year. The Twins took me off the roster and I started the year at Triple A really well, got called back up and did pretty well in the big leagues too."
Cave hit .262 with 21 home runs, 70 RBI and a .795 OPS over his first 163 games in 2018 and 2019 with the Minnesota Twins.
Those number prove that Cave is certainly capable of producing at the Major League level.
Cave will likely be battling Dalton Guthrie and Kody Clemens for one of the final roster spots.
It’s a competition he’s relishing. There’s no added pressure in his mind.
"That's not how I look at it at all ever, to be honest with you. I don't like when people get too worried about what's going on with the roster,” Cave said. “I understand the situation and I know that there's some guys fighting for some spots, but I feel like I'm in a good position, I've got a spot on the (40-man) roster and I know what I can do and I know I can bring some different things in the field. But all these guys are studs, I just want to go out there and produce. I think if you go out and you play the game the right way, good things will happen."
That’s the proper attitude. If Cave’s production continues at this pace, it will be tough to leave him off the 26-mn roster.
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