Jake

Cave

Cave, who turns 32 next month, hit .251/.290/.396 in 346 plate appearances for the Rockies last season. He departs for Korea with a .232/.292/.400 line in 523 big-league games.

The 31-year-old Cave played the hero in a few Rockies wins this year, but he wound up hitting a modest .251/.290/.396 in 346 plate appearances, leaving him with an 84 OPS+ that was below his career mark of 88. We imagine the club will offer him a minor league deal to come back and compete for a job next spring.

Doyle was a late scratch from Friday’s contest, and it’s not surprising to see the 26-year-old out again with soreness in his left knee. There’s nothing to gain with Doyle playing injured, so he’ll sit while Jake Cave takes his spot in the lineup.

Despite facing a right-handed pitcher, Jake Cave continues to sit on the bench for the Rockies. That means Jordan Beck will make another start, but the 23-year-old is hitting just .209/.259/.295 in 40 games this season. He’ll need to take advantage of this playing time opportunity before we can even begin to think about rostering him in fantasy.

Cave had an excellent day at the plate in New York, collecting four hits. He doubled in the second inning, then drove in a run with a base hit in the third before scoring on a double by Nolan Jones. Cave added another single in the fifth and took Michael Tonkin deep for a two-run homer in the seventh to extend the Rockies’ lead. The 31-year-old outfielder is slashing .262/.303/.418 with seven homers, 35 runs scored, 34 RBI, and five steals across 274 plate appearances.

This will be the third straight left-handed starter the Rockies have faced so left-handed hitters McMahon, Charlie Blackmon, and Jake Cave are all getting the day off. McMahon usually doesn’t sit against lefties, but he has been ice cold since June 1st, so the Rockies are more inclined to give him a day off. Aaron Schunk will start at third base and hit ninth while rookie Jordan Beck plays center field in Blackmon’s place and Sam Hilliard starts in right field over Cave.

It’s interesting that the Rockies didn’t just activate Nolan Jones in Kris Bryant’s spot, but Beck is back for now. We’d like to see him in the lineup the rest of the way, but that would almost certainly mean sitting Jake Cave, something that we’re not sure Bud Black will be able to bring himself to do. The Rockies can work it out for now, but Jones, who is out of options, has to be activated soon and he’s going to need to play, too.

With the Rockies trailing 4-2, Cave swatted a two-run blast off Hunter Strickland to tie the game at 4-4, and the Rockies would score another in the 10th to pick up the win. Cave has gone deep four times with 24 RBI to accompany a .251/.297/.372 slash.

Since no one came calling for Cave prior to the deadline — an assumption, but one that we hope is accurate — hopefully he’ll be looking at a much-reduced role going forward, especially once either Nolan Jones or Jordan Beck comes off the IL. It’s not like the 31-year-old Cave has even been a nice surprise in hitting .251/.299/.362. He has come through in a couple of big moments for the Rockies, but he’s just not very good.

WIth the score tied at 3-3 in the eighth, Cave blistered a homer with two runners on off Tyler Rogers to give Colorado a 6-3 lead and ultimately a victory in the first game after the break. Cave also singled to improve his line to a decent — if underwhelming — .264/.309/.391.