Yoenis Cespedes has missed 34 games this year, but he’s already played 20 more than the 90-game seasons he’s accustomed to in Cuba, and he’s not close to done. If things go his way, Cespedes will be in the lineup for the final 19 games of his rookie season and beyond.
“I’m going to be in the lineup every day,” Cespedes said through translator Ariel Prieto. “I’ll rest when we get a championship.”
...Longevity in baseball is all about adjustments. If his first year playing a 162-game season in a new country against decidedly tougher pitching is any indication, Cespedes could be around for awhile. But Melvin and the A’s have a responsibility to keep Cespedes sharp this year, and if it means a day off, he’ll have to deal with it. The team is already trying to limit his extra batting practice, as Melvin cited his work ethic and habits of arriving early and taking plenty of swings.
Cespedes, whose wrists were already taped four hours before gametime Friday, said his injury is feeling better, but it’s still “a little sore.” Indicating he’s ready to go, Cespedes joked in English, “I can walk.”
Then he went out and hit—in his regularly-scheduled batting practice—a 400-foot bomb to left field that landed in an empty seat in Oakland Coliseum’s second deck. He can swing too.
Repoz
Posted: September 14, 2012 at 11:18 PM |
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1. vortex of dissipation Posted: September 14, 2012 at 11:30 PM (#4236319)Interesting that he's got an ex-major league pitcher as his translator.
Oh, and Cespedes hit a real bomb in the real game against the Orioles. Dude's legit.
That name has to be a real blast from the past for someone here besides me, right?
Elijah Dukes - marriage councilor
Matt Bush- driving instructor, guidance councilor
I was positive he was going to be something (I wasn't looking at stats very well back then), and held on to him for two years.
"He's gonna be better than van Poppel!"
Speaking of Cuban defectors, I would like to finally publicly thank Rolando Arrojo for helping me to my first fantasy league title in 1998.
It probably is useful. Prieto is going to speak "baseball" better than some translator, even a translator who is a baseball fan and will probably do a better job of communicating nuance and subtlety.
And yeah, that was a blast from the past.
I approve this as long as Kirk Dressendorfer can be in charge of the clubhouse spread.
Who were the other four aces? David Zancanaro and Don Peters? Is that right at all?
Matt Harrington - financial advisor
Partner, Dykstra, Clark & Harrington?
???
He was in LF at the end.
Anyway, he better stay healthy -
A's record with Cespedes: 71-40.
A's record without Cespedes: 12-21.
After last night's game, as the A's were walking off the field, Amazing GF called it: the A's are winning it all this year. I immediately made her knock on wood, cross herself three times, throw salt over her shoulder, and cross a black cat's path... but as of this AM, she is sticking to her pronouncement. Whatever happens next, it's her fault.
Favorite fan sign from last night's telecast: "Cespedes for the rest of us"
I have to admit I don't get the reference. Can somebody fill me in?
Seinfeld reference.
I'm not sure I'd call that one a bomb. It got out in a hurry, but it was hit low and was the third shortest HR hit in the majors yesterday.
But that's not to say his power isn't scary.
UZR: -13 (what Fangraphs uses)
DRS: -12 (what bb-ref uses)
TZ: -1
For a guy with good top speed and a strong arm, he's shockingly bad in the field. He seems to have been close to averagish in the second half, but he took a lot of awful routes in the first half.
This is useful because now I know how to pronounce his last name.
Yeah, that got out fast. Looked like it was never more than about 30 feet high.
That all sounds true. It's just hard to believe he's given SO many runs back in the field. But maybe he has, I dunno.
Despite Crisp's Damon-esque throwing arm, I still think of Cespedes / Coco / Reddick as a pretty hellacious defensive OF.
The number of fast guys -- guys substantially faster than Cespedes -- who are surprisingly bad in CF and/or surprisingly average in LF is pretty long. Raines, Brock, Roger Cedeno, Vince Coleman just off the top of my head. Baseball is a funny game.
Bomb, laser, either way you don't want to be on the wrong side of one.
Cespedes (as a hitter) reminds me of peak-era Miguel Tejada.
Advanced defensive metrics FTL.
This is kinda like putting Bob Hayes and Willie Gault at wide receiver. Speed is good, but it's just one tool.
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