Rockies pick up left-handed bench bat as season opener nears

For the second time in four days, the Colorado Rockies traded for a potential depth piece.

Sunday morning, the Rockies acquired first baseman/outfielder Jake Cave from the Philadelphia Phillies. Colorado sent cash considerations to the Phillies in exchange for Cave. The 31-year-old left-handed hitter joins switch-hitting infield prospect Greg Jones as players acquired by the Rockies since Thursday.

The move comes one day after outfielder Nolan Jones was carted off the field after hitting a foul ball off his knee. Manager Bud Black said after the game that Jones suffered a contusion.

“He said he felt he was going to be fine,” Black told reporters after the game.

While Jones has yet to make his major-league debut and could start the season at AAA before moving up, Cave may stick on the 25-man roster. He has six previous seasons of experience, five of which came with the Minnesota Twins before he moved to the Phillies last year. He’s worked at all three outfield spots and as a designated hitter, adding first base to his repertoire last year, working 17 games.

The Rockies hope that Coors Field can revive Cave’s bat. His production has yet to approach his levels of his first two seasons (2018 and 2019), when he had OPS figures of .786 and .805, respectively. Since then, his OPS has remained below .700, with a batting average that hasn’t risen above .220 in the last three campaigns.

The Rockies conclude their spring-training slate on Tuesday and open the regular season at the defending National League champion Diamondbacks in Phoenix on Thursday night.