Quite often, we have seen various MLB players head overseas hoping to revive their professional baseball career. The Philadelphia Phillies have had many of their former players pursue that route, with Cole Irvin joining the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) and Yunior Marte landing in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) among some of the most recent during the past offseason.
It may be one thing to resurrect one’s career in the KBO League, but to do so while getting the documentary treatment at the same time is surely great for the game of baseball. That was what former Phillies outfielder Jake Cave has gracefully welcomed in his journey to South Korea after becoming a member of the Doosan Bears of the KBO last November.
Former Phillies outfielder Jake Cave the subject of documentary about his first season in KBO
To give you a sneak peek of the masterpiece, here's a preview posted by Phillies Tailgate on X.
Just looking at how excited and pumped Cave was in his pep talk with his Bears teammates certainly provided great hope and inspiration for the journeyman.
“I’m really excited to be here … All I have done my whole life is play baseball … I just wanna learn, I want to win baseball games and I want to get the most of my abilities while I still can … I’m really excited to be here and I want to win a championship,” said Cave.
Whether it has served as motivation for Cave, it surely seems to be working nonetheless. Especially after hitting his first home run in the KBO, he was showered by jubilant cheers from the fans and resounding high-fives from his teammates.
The former Phillies outfielder has had a strong start to his 2025 campaign with the Bears, batting a stellar .356 with an .916 OPS, along with nine runs scored, four doubles, one triple, two home runs, 14 RBIs and five stolen bases in 19 games. In doing so, Cave is giving off vibes reminiscent of his solid MLB debut season back in 2018 with the Minnesota Twins, when he appeared to be a potential star in the making.
Just for comparison, the 32-year-old veteran had only 18 runs scored, eight doubles, five home runs, 21 RBIs and three stolen bases while hitting just .212 with a .620 OPS in 65 games played during his only season in 2023 with the Phillies. Had Cave been performing like he has so far in the KBO, his tenure with Philadelphia would have definitely lasted a lot longer.
Nevertheless, hopefully this new chapter in Cave’s baseball journey will help him pave a way back to the major leagues in the not-so-distant future.