The Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Group introduced this week that they’ve signed outfielder/first baseman Jake Cave to a one-year, $1MM contract (hat tip to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.web). Cave, a consumer of the Ballengee Group, will head abroad for the primary time in his profession and earn the utmost wage for a first-year international participant within the KBO.
A veteran of seven huge league seasons, Cave spent the 2024 season with the Rockies and hit .251/.290/.396 with seven dwelling runs in 346 plate appearances. The Rockies handed Cave by way of waivers following the season, and he elected free company as soon as he went unclaimed.
Cave, 32 subsequent month, has spent the majority of his profession with the Twins however was additionally with the Phillies in 2023 and the Rox this previous season. General, he’s a lifetime .236/.292/.400 hitter within the majors (85 wRC+). Contact, or a scarcity thereof, has been a notable situation for him. Cave has fanned in 30.8% of his profession plate appearances. He does have a knack for making first rate contact when he places the ball in play, with almost 25% of his profession batted balls being line drives. That’s a number of proportion factors north of league-average, however his lack of contact offsets that penchant for stable contact.
Cave has logged greater than 1000 huge league innings at every of the three outfield spots. The Phillies additionally gave him 122 innings at first base in 2023. He spent a superb little bit of time in heart subject with Minnesota early in his profession however has labored primarily within the corners in latest seasons, drawing stable grades for his glovework. Statcast credit him with above-average dash velocity and above-average arm energy within the outfield, rating him within the sixtieth and 61st percentile of MLB gamers this previous season, respectively.
As Jee-ho Yoo of South Korea’s Yonhap Information Company factors out, Cave will spherical out the Bears’ worldwide signings for the yr. KBO golf equipment are permitted to hold three international gamers, and Doosan already signed pitchers Cole Irvin and Thomas Hatch earlier within the offseason.
