Yoenis Cespedes

New York Mets: Brodie Van Wagenen confident in Yoenis Cespedes’ ability to contribute

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New York Mets, Yeonis Cespedes

The New York Mets didn’t know what to expect from Yoenis Cespedes back in February, when the original spring training started. He was coming off multiple heel and ankle surgeries and while he was doing some baseball activities, he wasn’t particularly close to playing in a game back then.

Now, fast forward several months, we are about to enter July and the season will start either on July 23 or the very next day. A little over four months have passed since pitchers and catchers first reported to the Mets, and Cespedes is now in line to reclaim his spot on the team lineup.

In what capacity? Everything is pointing towards Cespedes being the primary designated hitter. The DH rule will be implemented in both leagues this year, and that way, the New York Mets can have Cespedes’ potent bat and save his legs from some wear and tear.

The Mets hope his bat, at least, can excel

Of course, general manager Brodie Van Wagenen knows that Cespedes hasn’t played in nearly two years, so he will be cautious about what to expect.

“We’ll have to evaluate how the next few days go, but we’re optimistic,” Van Wagenen said in his first extensive public comments since March, according to MLB.com. “His bat can be a real impact, and can be a little bit of a separator for us as we compare ourselves to the rest of the teams in the league.”

Cespedes has hit an impressive 282/.346/.543 since landing on the Mets back in 2015. His bat can be a difference-maker in a tough NL East.

In March, he was taking batting practice and participating in defensive drills. He wasn’t running at full speed, and while Van Wagenen didn’t exactly provide a full health report on him nowadays, he projected optimism.

“Ces is an incredible athlete,” Van Wagenen said. “When he’s 100 percent healthy, he’s got a dynamic skillset with all five tools. We’ll want to make sure we put him in a position to be able to utilize those tools that he has.”

New York Mets: Looking at the Designated Hitter Candidates

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New York Mets, Yeonis Cespedes

The designated hitter is here to stay during the 2020 shortened season, and the New York Mets are full of options. From injury-prone stars to bench players who do not have a role, the candidates are endless for the Mets.

Yoenis Cespedes

Yoenis Cespedes is the front runner to be the designated hitter. Reports say he will be fully healthy for Opening Day, and putting him at DH would preserve his legs for the entire season. Over 81 career games as a DH, he is hitting .287/.328/.524 with 18 home runs and 60 runs batted in. Cespedes has the highest potential to carry the team when healthy, and Mets fans would love to see him contribute every day. Despite the injuries, he still possesses a lethal arm in the outfield and is a former Gold Glove winner.

Dominic Smith

Dominic Smith also dealt with injuries during 2019. He lost playing time at first base due to Pete Alonso earning the job for himself. Smith only has one previous game as a DH and but is a potent left-handed hitter. He is coming off his best year in the big leagues, and he is a better option than Cespedes. Considering that Smith will be with the team in 2021, they should be getting him ready for the DH role going forward.

J.D. Davis

It seems J.D. Davis days at third base are limited and is mainly a left fielder. The most likely situation for Davis to end up at DH is if the Mets opt to put Cespedes in left to keep a strong lineup. They could also put Jake Marisnick in center field and put Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto in the corner positions. The main reason Davis could be a DH is due to his defense in the outfield.

Robinson Cano

A healthy Robinson Cano is someone the Mets would like to play all 60 games of the season. At 37-years old, it is unlikely for him to play all of them at second base. To keep him fresh/healthy moving Jeff McNeil to second and Davis to third base would allow the Mets to DH Cano and keep his bat in the lineup. He is still a solid defensive second baseman, so do not expect him to be the everyday DH.

Wilson Ramos

Much like Cano, Wilson Ramos is someone who needs to play in all 60 games. He will not be able to do that at catcher, but the Mets hope to keep their best hitter with runners in scoring position in the lineup. Instead of giving Ramos an entire day off from catching, moving him to DH and putting Tomas Nido/Rene Rivera behind the plate would balance the drop in production from the catching position. Despite the hitting loss, the catching defense would upgrade during Ramos’ turn at DH.

Jed Lowrie

Jed Lowrie has no fit on the roster and is only an option because he has nowhere to play in the field. The last time Lowrie played every day, he was an All-Star, but he has gone a year and a half since the last time he made a starting lineup. The most significant trait for Lowrie as a DH is his switch-hitting ability.

The Mets DH options are abundant, and it would be no surprise if they had the most players swap in at DH throughout the season. Everything is analytics driving in modern baseball, and combining that with keeping players fresh is going to be a major challenge for Luis Rojas in year one.

Who has the best throwing arm in the New York Mets?

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New York Mets, Yeonis Cespedes

Due to multiple heel and ankle surgeries, asking Yoenis Cespedes to show his 2014 and 2015 performance level in the outfield seems unrealistic. It is clear that he can rake if healthy, but let’s not forget that he has a cannon of an arm, perhaps the best of the New York Mets‘ current roster now that Juan Lagares is not with the team.

MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, the Mets’ beat writer, wrote a couple of paragraphs about Cespedes’ prodigious right arm from the outfield as part of a series by the league’s official website.

“The health of Céspedes’ legs may remain uncertain following multiple heel surgeries and a fractured right ankle, but the health of his right arm most certainly does not. In February and March, Céspedes was a frequent sight during defensive drills in Port St. Lucie, Fla., unleashing throws that looked indistinguishable from those during his prime. A Gold Glove Award winner in 2015, Céspedes has annually rated highly on FanGraphs’ ARM metric, which measures how many runs above average an outfielder saves by preventing runners from advancing.

Will the Mets let him show his cannon of an arm?

“Now that Juan Lagares is gone from Flushing, Céspedes possesses the strongest arm in the Mets’ clubhouse. The only question is whether he’ll have a chance to use it, now 22 months removed from his last big league game, or if his leg issues will keep him limited to a designated-hitter role (or even off the field altogether),” DiComo wrote.

Certainly, 2014 and 2015 were Cespedes’ best seasons in the outfield. He accumulated 30 DRS between the two seasons, with high grades in UZR and UZR/150. In 2014, he had a 12.3 ARM rate per Fangraphs, and a year later, he had 7.5.

His days of being a great fielder may be over, but he still has a cannon of an arm, and he showed it in spring training. Will the New York Mets give him reps in the outfield this year, should there be a season?

New York Mets: Can Yoenis Cespedes make the transition to full-time DH? What do the numbers say?

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New York Mets, Yeonis Cespedes

For years, people have assumed that a player can make the transition from playing to field to occupying the designated hitter (DH) spot seamlessly. Some ballplayers have said over the years that it isn’t as easy as it sounds, as they have grown used to wear a glove and defend their position for a lifetime. For the New York Mets, if there is a universal DH this year (and if there is a season, of course) one has to wonder, who are the candidates to DH? Can they make the “conversion”?

Let’s talk specifically about Yoenis Cespedes. The Mets signed him to play the outfield, and four a couple of years, he did. He wasn’t particularly bad, but he wasn’t good out there. That, and the fact that he hasn’t played the outfield in nearly two years because of ankle and heel injuries make him a natural candidate to occupy the DH position.

Will his timing be affected by the change? Only time and sample size will tell, but according to Tim Healy of Newsday, here are his numbers from the DH spot:

AB: 338

Hits: 97

HR: 18

RBI: 60

BA: .287

OBP: .328

SLG: .524

OPS: .851

Given the fact that he has a career slash line of .274/.328/.498, we can say that the Mets’ 2015 hero has been comfortable while hitting and not fielding. He has even shown increased power as his slugging percentage indicates, but the sample size isn’t very large.

The Mets have weapons and options

The most likely scenario is that Yoenis Cespedes isn’t the everyday designated hitter of the New York Mets, but he figures to see most of his playing time there. However, the team does have some other pieces that make sense in the position, the most notable case being JD Davis.

Like Cespedes, Davis is a bat-first, no-glove player that is best deployed at the DH spot. Robinson Cano will likely see a start or two per week in the DH position too, given the fact that the Mets will also want to keep his leg muscles well-rested.

Pete Alonso could be spared every once in a while with a DH start, and Dominic Smith’s bat can also be used in the position. There are several paths, but right now, if Cespedes is healthy and in a groove, the Mets should use him at their DH most nights.

New York Mets: Why Wilson Ramos Should Be a DH Candidate

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As the negotiations toward continuing the MLB season continues, one of the key topics is the universal designated hitter. The New York Mets have an abundance of options, but an overlooked choice is Wilson Ramos.

Ramos has one of the most reliable bats at catcher, but his defense prevents him from ranking as a top-10 catcher. His caught stealing has been below league average over the last three seasons and is in the same area with about everything else defensively. The caught sealing numbers were due in part to the inability to hold runners on, but moving Ramos to DH strengthens the defense.

Who Becomes the Catcher

This plan only works if the rosters expand to 30 for the entire season. Rene Rivera handles the bulk of the catching duty, and Tomas Nido becomes the third catcher on the roster. Rivera is better with the running game than Nido, but Nido is stronger in his framing. Rivera has a career 36 percent caught stealing for his career while Nido lags at 13 percent.

The biggest difference for the Mets is adding the extra catcher to the lineup stops them from using Yoenis Cespedes or Dominic Smith as the DH. With the depth of the Mets lineup, using Rivera/Nido should not hurt their offensive production. If they needed a pinch hitter, they could use Cespedes/Smith with the ability to put the third catcher in the game.

In extreme circumstances, the Mets lose the DH to make Ramos the catcher and play classic NL baseball. In an 82-game season with a DH, Ramos should play in all 82. Last season, he hit .307 with runners in scoring position and .367 in high leverage situations.

Keeping Ramos fresh was a key emphasis for the Mets down the stretch run of 2019. His hot hitting in the second half made it hard to take him out of the lineup. Putting him as the DH every 2-3 games allows them to keep him fresh and continue to give Cespedes/Smith the opportunity to DH when Ramos is behind the dish. It serves as an alternative plan if the Mets would rather have more offense than defense with the universal DH.

These New York Mets’ players would receive more at-bats if there is a universal DH

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New York Mets, Robinson Cano

The coronavirus crisis postponed the start of the MLB season, which was scheduled for March 26. The league and the players’ union are currently negotiating several things to return to play, and all of them concern the New York Mets.

One of them is particularly promising for the Mets’ lineup. According to Jon Heyman, cited by SNY, MLB is currently offering the union the option to implement a universal designated hitter spot for the 2020 season.

As you know, the American League plays with a DH and the National League doesn’t. The pitcher gets to hit in the old circuit, but if the changes go through, some New York Mets’ players stand to receive more at-bats in the upcoming season.

Heyman reports that the league’s proposal for the universal DH is expected to be easily approved, so if there is a season in 2020, it would seem like both leagues would have a designated hitter.

Great news for the Mets

For the New York Mets, that is fantastic news. While the current starting rotation’s depth suffered a huge blow with Noah Syndergaard’s Tommy John surgery, the lineup is, instead, crowded with usable options.

The Mets have a good offensive catcher in Wilson Ramos and a defensive wiz in Tomas Nido. They have Dominic Smith capable of playing first base, but blocked by Pete Alonso. There are lots of outfielders to spread around three spots, notably Brandon Nimmo, Jake Marisnick, Michael Conforto, Smith, Yoenis Cespedes and JD Davis. If the DH opens up, life could be easier for manager Luis Rojas.

There is also quite a logjam in the infield. If Jed Lowrie ever gets healthy, he is a very useful piece who can play second and third base, the same positions that Jeff McNeil can cover. Let’s remember that Lowrie was a 5.0 fWAR player the year before the New York Mets signed him. Robinson Cano’s contract and potent bat (if healthy) are also necessary in the lineup and a weekly start or two in the DH spot would help his legs.

Cespedes, Cano, and Smith are the most likely beneficiaries of the potential universal DH rule. The first two have suffered numerous lower-body injuries in recent months and Smith can find some extra at-bats given his path to playing time in first base is blocked.

New York Mets: How the New Season Plan Affects the Mets

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yankees, New York Mets, Luis Rojas

Monday marks the first day the MLB and the Players Association will meet to discuss plans to restart the 2020 season. The meeting is the only good news about it. There is no love lost between both sides, and there is no guarantee they agree on anything.

Hopefully, the MLB proposes their plan on Tuesday after MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred speaks to a representative from each team on Monday. New details from the plan lead with a schedule of around 80 games with the season starting in early July. Teams will play their division rivals and the other teams in their region to limit travel.

Ideally, teams will play in their home ballparks, which helps cut down travel. As reported by us last week, the designated hitter will be universal throughout baseball. The newest information comes in an extended postseason, which includes seven teams from each league.

During this week’s meetings, the biggest dealbreaker comes in the form of pay cuts and health safety for all MLB personnel. In March, the union was against any idea of reducing salaries.

How Does This Affect the Mets?

An 80-games season should push the New York Mets to make the most out of the season. Seth Lugo draws even more consideration to become a starter. Using the projections made earlier this week, he will make no more than 16 starts and using his career averages as a starter, Lugo will throw around 88 innings. Eight more than he pitched as a reliever in 2019, but less than his highest amount.

An 80 game season forces the Mets to make tough decisions with their depth. The depth the Mets have is always a good problem to have, but balancing it out is tricky. Dominic Smith, Jed Lowrie, and Yoenis Cespedes are all projected to come off the bench. If healthy, one will slide into the DH role, but all three have proven to be good bats when healthy.

Thanks to versatile players like Jeff McNeil, J.D. Davis, and most of their outfielders, Manager Luis Rojas can mix and match. Despite getting two weeks to get back into playing shape, most players will need the first couple weeks of the regular season to find their groove as well.

The short season increases the urgency to win quickly. Even with an extended playoff format, no team wants to play in a one-game playoff to decide their fate. The Mets also draw the most competitive division in baseball as the Pirates and Orioles seem like the only teams who are lighter competition.

The depth the Mets have is as good as any in baseball, but their unproven manager has to show he knows how to slide each piece into the perfect place. As we saw with Mickey Callaway, a good manager is a difference between a failed season and a World Series victory.

New York Mets: First Time No April Baseball in MLB History

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New York Mets, Edwin Diaz

Throughout baseball’s history, Major League Baseball has dealt with stoppages ranging from union disputes to worldwide conflict. The COVID-19 pandemic achieved something no other conflict ever accomplished, preventing baseball games from being played in April.

The thought of Jacob deGrom trotting out to the mound on his quest for a third straight Cy Young award is simply a dream. New York Mets fans have grown accustomed to their Opening Day success, followed by a solid April to reel in the hope that they will bring home a championship again. All the uncertainty surrounding the country leaves an idea of baseball in jeopardy.

Life Without Baseball

Case numbers vary from state to state, and each state has its ways of moving forward. States like Georgia opened for good, Maryland, and Texas slightly reopened while New York remains wholly shut down. Another key factoid is Canada requires a 14-day quarantine when coming in from another country.

Other teams will not be able to play the Toronto Blue Jays, and even some players are unable to play until laws change. Also, if they returned 14 days before the season, they either risk being unready for baseball after a two-week layoff or risk the consequences of leaving quarantine to stay sharp.

The Mets 40-man roster contains 11 players from countries outside the U.S., but most of them live in the country. Yoenis Cespedes, Wilson Ramos, and Robinson Cano lead the pack. Edwin Diaz went back to Puerto Rico but is still pitching to live batters whenever he has the opportunity.

Getting players is going to be a tough task to run smoothly. The Utah Jazz was a prime example of what can happen once one player gets the virus. It set a precedent for shutting down sports and made the rest of the leagues realize the dangers the virus poses.

As May is a few days in, it seems more likely that games will resume at some point during 2020. MLB is putting together all the plans they have to make it work, but each different state’s timeline will be a significant hurdle to overcome.

New York Mets: Short Season Helps Robinson Cano and Yoenis Cespedes

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New York Mets, Robinson Cano

As Major League Baseball continues to move towards the season resuming, the more likely the divisions will be realigned. The designated hitter will likely become universal and implemented past the 2020 season. The New York Mets have with “pitchers who rake,” but their everyday DH is a major weapon.

The aging Robinson Cano is in prime position to assume the DH duty when baseball returns. Cano is in his age-37 season and coming off of his worst season in the big leagues. Even when Cano started to pick things up down the stretch run, it quickly ended when he injured his hamstring.

Squeeze the Last Good Years Out

There is no longer an expectation for Cano to put up MVP caliber numbers as a position player. If the Mets use Cano more as a DH than in his usual position of second base, the production should increase. Much like Nelson Cruz and Jim Thome, the increased focus on offense will bring back his Hall of Fame-caliber production.

Does it make the Mets defense better? Realistically, it does not make a difference. Cano is not the same defender he was during his prime. Even if the defense gets better at second base with Jeff McNeil moving there, the third base defense then takes a hit.

The other DH option would be Yoenis Cespedes, which would allow the Mets to keep Cano in the field. At this point in their careers, a healthy Cespedes is better than Cano. The keyword for him is always “health.” Cespedes was ready to hit in Spring Training games, but his rehab did not allow him to field yet. Moving him to a permanent DH role also allows the Mets to organize their outfield easily.

The Odd Man Out

Dominic Smith would ideally be the best for the role since he is going to lose the most playing time. Pete Alonso started 152 games in 2019 and will likely do the same. Smith is not an upgrade in the outfield either, which suits him perfectly to DH. This is why the Mets have not traded him since 2021 is a likely possibility for the universal DH.

Smith also provides more power as the left-handed DH over Cano. Smith only hit two fewer homers in over 200 less ABs last season. Smith’s on-base percentage was almost 50 points higher than Cano’s as well.

Nothing is set in stone yet, but Luis Rojas and the Mets should be discussing all the possibilities for baseball’s return. Their assortment of riches should be a blessing, not a curse.

These two New York Mets’ players will benefit from the late start to the season

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New York Mets, Yeonis Cespedes

Concerns about the quick dissemination of the COVID-19, or coronavirus disease, have caused Major League Baseball and dozens of other professional circuits and leagues to stop their operations for the time being. The virus has killed thousands of people since its appearance in December 2019, and even athletes have been infected. Even the New York Mets had a recent scare when Donovan Mitchell, the NBA star, tested positive because his father works for the team. Mitchell sr. tested negative, thankfully.

MLB had to start regular-season games in late March, but that won’t be the case anymore. The league announced last week that it would push back regular-season games two weeks “at least,” and that timetable is looking awfully insufficient right now.

However, for MLB players, including a couple of New York Mets’ members, the extra time will likely mean that they can start playing as soon as the games count, and not after as it was deemed likely a few days ago.

Two Mets’ outfielders will likely be ready from the go

Given that the most likely scenario is that Major League Games won’t be played before June, one Mets’ player that will almost surely be ready from the go is outfielder Michael Conforto.

On March 11, the Mets announced that Conforto’s oblique injury was a Grade 1 strain, which is a mild one. Even still, he wasn’t going to be ready for the first game of the season had the previously stated date been kept.

Conforto can comfortably be ready to play meaningful games in mid-to-late April, so it’s safe to say he will be ready when the contests start counting.

A more complex case is that of Yoenis Cespedes. He was running out of time to make the opening day roster when the coronavirus outbreak halted things. However, if the season starts in May or June, that gives him a few extra weeks to clear the remaining hurdles in his heel and ankle surgeries recovery.