Last night’s hero (at least one of them) for the New York Mets, Yoenis Cespedes, told Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News that he will not take a day off due to illness despite manager Mickey Callaway‘s continued requests for him to do so.
Cespedes has been dealing with flu-like symptoms, but he has made it clear to Callaway that he is not going to come out of the lineup and wants to work his way out of his current slump.
To Ackert, Cespedes said, “The only way I can go out of this slump is taking at-bats and go out and playing and doing whatever I do, which is hitting…When I am not ahead (of the pitch), I am behind.”
After his current symptoms arose on Saturday, Cespedes’ production dropped off after a hot start. He had base hits (including three home runs) in five of the Mets’ first six games.
From Saturday until his two-RBI, game-winning double last night, Cespedes’ only other hit came in Sunday night’s win over the Nats (a game-winning RBI single in the top of the 12th inning).
By now in his career, Yoenis Cespedes knows that hitters go into slumps now and then. Clearly, Yo has a very good feel for his body and knows what it takes to break himself out of a funk.
“Everybody goes through that…I am not tired. I want to play.”
