NEW YORK — Jake Cave finally had his Yankee Stadium moment. It probably didn't live up to his dreams.
Cave, drafted out of high school by the Yankees a decade ago, spent seven summers in New York's minor league system, believing he would someday inherit the position of Mickey Mantle and Bernie Williams in the Bronx. But the Yankees, with a surplus of outfielders and a shortage of roster spots, traded Cave to the Twins during spring training of 2018 for minor league pitcher Luis Gil, and he settled in as a backup to Byron Buxton in Minnesota.
"I thought about this place a lot, but never made it up here when I was with the Yankees," Cave said, looking around the famous ballpark. "I played part of a playoff game [in 2019], but that's it."
Meanwhile, it has been a difficult season for Cave, 28, who missed a couple of months because of a cracked vertebrae and has yet to get comfortable at the plate. He has played 22 games since being activated again, but hasn't had multiple hits in any of them. His batting average stays stubbornly under .200, currently .179.
"I've got an old-man back, I guess. It made it hard to hit, and I didn't feel as explosive in the outfield, either. But I'm feeling like I can move around again," Cave said. "I'm definitely on the mend. It's way better."
And he proved it on Thursday night, in his first regular season start at Yankee Stadium. With runners on second and third and two outs in the fifth inning, Giancarlo Stanton hit what appeared to be a line-drive single to left. But Cave sprinted in and dived, plucking the ball a few inches above the turf to end the inning.
Moments later, Cave drove a fastball from Jameson Taillon the opposite way, five rows deep in the left-field stands.
"I'm not going to lie, it felt pretty good. Shoot, I got to hit a home run at Yankee Stadium. Got to save a couple of runs in the field," Cave said. "Yeah, it was a night I'll remember for a while."
He still has plenty of old friends on the Yankees roster and coaching staff, and they remembered him, too. He received texts from pals like Kyle Higashioka, Aaron Judge and Tyler Wade, and heard about it on the field the next day, too.
"Reggie Willits, their outfield guy [and first-base coach], I got along with him real well when I was over there, so of course he came up to me talking," Cave said with a smile. " 'How come you couldn't take hits away when you were here?' Stuff like that. It was fun."
But not as much fun as it could have been. The Twins' comeback fell short, and New York won the first of three straight against the Twins 7-5. "Yeah, it would have been a lot more fun to beat them," Cave said. "A good night for me, but winning is the priority. That would have made it a great one."
