The Twins will place outfielder Jake Cave on the 60-day injured list with a fracture in his back and select the contract of infielder/outfielder Rob Refsnyder, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.
The 60-day placement means Cave won’t return until at least the middle of July, which is a blow to the Twins’ outfield depth. Cave has played all three outfield positions this year and has totaled the team’s second-most appearances in center field after starter Byron Buxton, who is on the injured list with a strained hip. Fellow outfielder Alex Kirilloff, meanwhile, has been out of commission for almost all of May with a sprained wrist, and Kyle Garlick is playing through a groin injury.
While Cave has offered defensive flexibility, his offensive production has left much to be desired dating back to last season. He was a valuable offensive contributor for the Twins from 2018-19, during which he combined for a .262/.329/.466 line with 21 home runs in 537 plate appearances. But Cave had trouble at the plate last year and has put up a career-worst .167/.239/.262 line with one long ball and 35 strikeouts in 93 PA this season.
Cave’s injury will lead to another major league opportunity for the 30-year-old Refsnyder, whom the Twins signed a minor league contract in the offseason after he appeared in 15 games with the Rangers in 2020. Refsnyder has only hit .217/.305/.297 with four home runs in 457 major league PA.
The return of Refsnyder.
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Can’t believe ref is 30 now. I still remember when he was a 22 year old budding hof’er
Monument Park is still ready to put up that plaque of his
Yankees legend
The Return of the King
It could be argued that with Cave out, the Twins outfield depth just got better.
I often wonder if other teams’ fans are so fickle as Minnesota Twins fans? Jake Cave is basically a full season 2 WAR outfielder who can play all 3 outfield positions. Easily a very nice backup outfielder by MLB standards.
Compared to Eddie Rosario from 2018-2021 (including Rosario’s career 2018 year), Jake Cave has generated WAR at almost the exact same rate per plate appearance except Cave plays decent defense. I guess I’ve never understood why Cave is so disliked as a backup.
he’s a butcher in the outfield, plus….he can’t hit. Send a letter to your team’s GM encouraging a trade. we’d welcome it….twins need a new bag of baseballs
Advanced metrics don’t agree with your position. In 954 innings in Center Field, Cave was a little below average in UZR/150, including a really horrible small sample size in 2021 so far.
I don’t really care if Jake Cave stays with the Twins. It’s not like he’s going to make an All Star game or something, but you seem to have some personal grudge which just furthers my original point.
no personal grudge….I don’t need some stats to tell me, when I watch him take horrible routes to fly balls….when I watch him take strike 3 down the middle….he’s not a major league ballplayer.
So 1,000 innings of advanced metrics and coaches decisions to play the center field position versus your personal “eye test.”
Also, 753 plate appearances of career OPS+ of 100 (exactly league average hitter) versus, again, your “eye test.”
Cave isn’t an All Star, but he’s been an effective MLB hitter and fielder regardless of how much vitriol you have for him.
“John Snyder is a leader in the referee community in Washington,” says Busch. “He will bring his years of experience and knowledge to assigning EPLWA matches in 2018. We are fortunate to have someone of his caliber step to become a part of our league team.”
Hopefully he won’t get mugged. Who would want to …
Rob Ref Snyder.
And so begins the Twins run to the World Series
The Twins didn’t protect Baddoo (I’m well aware he has struggled as of late) and DFA Blankenhorn so they eventually could put a guy like Refsnyder on the 40 man. Not the best management, Thad.
Guys like that get added to the roster because they don’t mind DFA’ing him after.
If he gets in a game it will be five teams played for, and four teams he was with that he didn’t appear in a MLB game with.
Tiebreaker….
The Ref gets nothing but rave reviews!
Hey, Hulk. Do you know anyone that can take over one of the teams in our fantasy league? A guy bailed and I own the team now but I can’t own 2 so I am trying to pass it off.
He’s back!!!
Did you know that the QB who was drafted 2nd overall in the NFL draft Zach Wilson is actually the grandson of the Marlboro man?
I did not, that’s a fun fact. Where’d you read that one?
5 bucks says they sign Hildenberger by the end of the weekend
One day (maybe) spammers here will grow tired and forget all about how guys like Refsnyder and Swihart were nothing but talked about and hyped prospects who were busts, that the names of won’t go away only because haters of those 2 teams refuse to let them..
Just like spammers on forums.. stuck with them..
It’s hard to imagine a guy with the manly name ‘Jake Cave’ possibly getting injured.
Quick, flip him back to Cleveland for Bieber.
Royce Lewis sure would have come in handy for the Twins this year, IF or OF. Injury nightmares continue..