Mets left fielder Yoenis Cespedes hadn’t hit a home run in over a month – until last night. He started the night off with a bang with a towering home run to left field, giving the Mets a 1-0 lead. He would later hit a double before an exciting “Little League home run” which went in the book as a triple.
After rounding the bases and looking noticeably sluggish between third and home, Cespedes was removed from the game. Broadcasters Gary Cohen and Ron Darling speculated it was purely for double-switch purposes, making Paul Sewald able to pitch two innings, which seemed a logical assumption. It wasn’t until after the game we found out the true reason for Cespedes’ departure.
“It was more fatigue, I felt it really after I touched second base,” Cespedes said through an interpreter. “I’m not too worried I don’t think it’s going to be an impediment for playing tomorrow.”
As he was running hard around the bases, Cespedes’ right quad tightened up. He was removed from the game purely as a precaution, and there is no reason to think he won’t be out for more than one day.
After not hitting a triple the entire season, he has two in his last two games as well as a home run and a double. He hadn’t been hitting for power for a long time, so hopefully this 3-for-4 night with three extra-base hits breaks him out of the funk.
“Like I’ve said before just because things haven’t been going great for me doesn’t mean I haven’t stopped working hard so I think things really started to change before we left home,” Cespedes added.
Cespedes is hitting .284/.336/.515 with 10 home runs and 26 RBIs in 194 at-bats this season.
