Jake Cave

[William Malone]

Andrew Jacob Cave was born on December 4, 1992 in Hampton, Virginia.

The New York Yankees drafted him in round six of the 2011 MLB Draft. Cave was taken by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2015 Rule-5 Draft, but got returned after not making their Opening Day roster in 2016. New York traded Cave to the Minnesota Twins for pitching prospect Luis Gil during spring training in 2018.

Cave homered and stole a base in his Major League debut on May 19, 2018. He played 91 games for the Twins that season, slashing .265/.313/.473 with 13 home runs and 72 RBI. Those 13 home runs were traveling an average distance of 421 feet, per Statcast. This was the furthest of any non-Colorado Rockies player in 2018. Cave finished the 2018 particularly strong, ending the year on a seven game hit streak. Two of them were multi-hit games.

He began 2019 as the Twins fourth outfielder, but it was sometimes hard to find at-bats for the left handed Cave to play with fellow left handed hitters Max Kepler and Eddie Rosario occupying two of the starting outfield spots. Marwin Gonzalez, a switch hitting utility man, was a better fit for many of these opportunities. This caused Cave to split the year between the Majors and Triple-A. He played 72 big league games for the Twins in 2019, slashing .258/.351/.455 with eight home runs and 25 RBI. A late season injury to Byron Buxton allowed Cave to make the playoff roster. He went 1-for-4 during the ALDS, appearing in two games.

The pandemic shortened 2020 season wasn't great for Cave, who slashed .221/.285/.389 with four home runs and 15 RBI. Six of those RBI came within the Twins first three games of the year. He had a two run single against Lucas Giolito on Opening Day, then hit a grand slam off Reynaldo López two days later. His struggles continued in 2021, and the injury bug came around to make things worse. Cave hit .189/.249/.293 that season, missing almost three months due to a fracture in his back. Minnesota designated Cave for assignment after the season. He cleared waivers, and was optioned to Triple-A.

Cave spent four months of 2022 in Triple-A with the St. Paul Saints, finally getting re-called in early August to help an injury riddled Twins team. He started out hot, begging the Major League portion of his season with a five game hit streak. This helped spark Minnesota to a few much needed wins in a tight playoff race, but both Cave and his teammates ultimately fell off in September. He was designated for assignment for a second time after the season, and claimed by the Baltimore Orioles. Baltimore waived Cave later in the off-season, the he was claimed by the Philadelphia Phillies.

Cave played 65 games for the Phillies in 2023, hitting .212 with five home runs. He went 1-for-3 in the postseason, making the final out of the Phillies season in game seven of the NLCS. Philadelphia traded Cave to the Colorado Rockies as spring training was wrapping up in 2024. Cave played a career high 123 games for the Rockies that season, batting .251 with seven home runs and 37 RBI.

The Doosan Bears of the KBO signed Cave for the 2025 season.

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