Twins

Jake Cave is Rounding Back into 2018 Form Since Byron Buxton Has Gone Down

Photo credit: Brad Rempel (USA Today Sports)

When Byron Buxton went down with a left shoulder subluxation on Aug. 3, Jake Cave was hitting .193/.320/.301. Because Max Kepler would take over as Buxton’s primary replacement in center field, Cave would be forced into action as his main backup in right and play some center when Kepler needed rest.

Coming off a season where he played all three outfield positions and hit .265/.313/.473 following a trade with the New York Yankees, Cave appeared to be a capable backup for Minnesota’s outfield trio of Eddie Rosario, Buxton and Kepler should any of them go down. But he hit .206/.289/.235 in the first month of the season, and a .121/.237/.212 June indicated he might be spending most of the year in the minors. LaMonte Wade, a possible replacement, had been called up and Marwin Gonzalez was playing capably in the outfield.

Cave has hit .441/.472/.559 since Buxton has been hurt, however, and saw his slash line rise to .265/.360/.376 — closer to last year’s numbers. It didn’t come out of nowhere: He hit .333/.462/.778 in July and is hitting .352/.393/.592 in Triple-A this year.

“Jake has actually dominated the Triple-A level the whole year,” said Rocco Baldelli. “He’s been having good at-bats for most of the year. He didn’t get very consistent playing time the first time around when he was with us earlier, really. But overall, we’re talking about a guy that had a good offensive year last year.”

Cave has mashed left-handed pitchers this season, and has been more effective as a pinch-hitter (.333/.500/.333 in 15 games) than as a starter (.259/.347/.380 in 32). He’s hitting .375/.385/.583 vs. lefties this year and only .237/.355/.323 against righties, meaning that he’s probably better used as a pinch-hitter or in a platoon against lefties. But he’s been called into more regular duty with Buxton out.

He’s also joined one of the most prolific offenses in baseball history, and is likely benefitting from protection in the lineup in addition to more regular at-bats.

“You have to give each individual player credit for the work they’re doing, Jake included,” said Baldelli. “We also do have a good collective environment, too, where it starts with the guys who have been out there all year doing it.

“But when you add other guys into the mix who haven’t been playing regularly but get in there, I think we force situations upon other teams because we try to put pressure on the other team, by having good at-bats, by those other guys having good swings. We want to force the other team to have to make pitches to our entire lineup, or we put a good swing on the ball.

“I think it’s a good environment for any hitter to be in. It’s because of that, because of the players that we have and what we’ve done up and down our lineup.”

It’s all added up to Cave returning to form. He’s become a capable replacement until Buxton can get healthy, transforming from a player hitting below the Mendoza Line to one who fits in with the rest of the Bombas.

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Photo credit: Brad Rempel (USA Today Sports)

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