Biggest Spring Standout: Philadelphia Phillies

We continue our look at spring standouts from across the majors by moving to the National League East.

For the Philadelphia Phillies, it's been a tough spring, as they've lost slugger Rhys Hoskins for the season, starter Ranger Suarez will have to begin the year on the injured list, and top prospect Andrew Painter went down to injury as well.

But an unexpected bright spot arose in the form of a non-descript bit outfielder obtained from the Minnesota Twins. The Phillies' spring standout was 30-year-old Jake Cave.

Jake Cave finished Spring Training with a slash line of .462/.500/.827, three home runs, 14 RBIs and a 1.327 OPS.

ST results should be taken with the largest grain of salt, but like… pic.twitter.com/7UaXnuTj9a
— Tim Kelly (@TimKellySports) March 29, 2023

All he did was lead all of baseball in hits this spring, with 24 of them, while batting .462 with a 1.327 OPS, three homers and 14 RBIs. To say this came as a surprise to the Phillies is probably an understatement. He has a career .235 average.

Cave has only accumulated more than 200 at-bats once in a season, and that was back in his rookie year five seasons ago. Since then, he's been toiling away in Minneapolis, his last three seasons combining for a .210 average with little power and little speed.

The Phillies claimed him on waivers, taking a shot that he could return to the positive results of his rookie season. And besides, they needed the outfield depth, with Bryce Harper destined to be only a DH whenever he does return.

So far, their gamble is paying off.

But just to be safe, the Phillies also landed another nice piece for outfield depth, securing a former top prospect in a trade earlier on Wednesday.

Other spring standouts:

Photo: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports