After Monday night’s incredible performance against the Dodgers, MLB scouts were stunned by Yoenis Cespedes‘ tremendous combination of power and speed. Cespedes launched a 430 foot home run, and he was also timed at 3.9 and 3.8 seconds running to first base.
“That’s Mickey Mantle, Bo Jackson territory,” one scout said of the speed-power combination Cespedes exhibited. (John Heyman, CBS Sports)
According to the scout, a time of 4.0 seconds is considered elite on baseball’s 2-8 scouting scale.
“A 4.0 is an 8. So that makes him a 10.”
Cespedes’ speed is often overlooked, but it’s part of what makes him such a dangerous player. He used his great speed to beat out an infield hit in the third inning in Game 4 that ignited the team’s 13 run outburst.
“That was incredible. That was huge,” Dodgers third base coach Ron Roenicke, the former Brewers manager, said of Cespedes’ sprints to first base. “And the thing was, it wasn’t on some little swing … He’s got crazy tools.”
Cespedes finished the season batting .291 with 35 home runs and 105 RBI. He is one of the few five tool players in baseball, and will command a huge contract in the offseason.
While the Mets have not spent a lot in free agency in recent years, that might be about to change with Cespedes hitting the market. He’s been outstanding all year, and he has been one of the main keys to the Mets success in 2015.
