MLB fans hail Phillies outfielder's stellar 2023 Spring Training: “Jake Cave MVP”

With the MLB preseason officially ending on March 28, the league has published a list of names who have gone above and beyond for their teams in the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues.

Unlike the stars who are likely to find themselves on the leaderboard for hits, runs, home runs, RBIs at the end of the 2023 season, the spring training stat leaders do not boast such solid name recognition.

"Your 2023 Spring Training stat leaders!" - Talkin' Baseball

As spring training often features a revolving door of names, players mentioned had to meet the minimum criteria of 40 plate appearances for hitters or 15 innings pitched for pitchers.

Either way, MLB fans loved the underdogs on the leaderboard. Some are already expecting big seasons out of the relatively unknown players who find themselves at the top of their games.

Jake Cave of the Philadelphia Phillies has the highest batting average of all eligible players. The 30-year-old outfielder went 24-for-52 with three home runs and 14 RBIs. Cave, who signed a one-year deal with the Phillies after five seasons with the Minnesota Twins, is already being touted as a future MVP.

With eight home runs in 18 games, Atlanta Braves outfielder Matt Olson holds the home run title this spring. The Atlanta-native is entering his second season with the team after hitting .240/.325/.477 with 34 home runs and 103 RBIs in 2022.

Venezuelan pitcher German Marquez of the Colorado Rockies posted the lowest ERA in 2023 MLB spring training. He had an ERA of just 0.53. Marquez, who led the MLB in innings pitched during the shortened 2020 season, is being touted as the star of his team's rotation heading into the season.

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Yusei Kikuchi has put up the most strikeouts this season. The Japanese-born pitcher had 124 strikeouts in all of last season. He will be playing in the second season of his three-year deal with the Jays in 2023.

2023 MLB regular-season leaderboard will likely look very different

Although these players have done tremendously to lead in their respective categories, spring training is often not indicative of the real season.

When the stars start playing regularly, it may be harder for a character like Jake Cave or Matt Olson to find themselves leading the league in just about anything. That is not to say, however, that there will be any shortage of surprises when the 2023 MLB season finally kicks off.