Yoenis, Yoenis. Wherefore art thou, Yoenis?
Down 6-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning on Monday night against the St. Louis Cardinals, Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes had a chance to right the ship.
It’s been a struggle for the 31-year-old outfielder in 2017, who has driven in just 20 runs in 44 games after inking a lucrative four-year, $110 million deal in the offseason to keep him in Queens long-term.
But the multi-million dollar man came up empty on a 3-0 count when he rolled into a game ending, 6-4-3 double play as the tying run to put icing on the cake of an 0-for-5 performance.
After the game, Cespedes reportedly dodged the media and left before being asked about his underwhelming performance.
In a season where the outfielder has been riddled with injuries, Mets manager Terry Collins says Cespedes felt fine after hurting his hip during the weekend series with Colorado.
So, what is going on?
After wearing the collar on Monday, the Cuban slugger’s slash line has dipped down to .273/.328/.491. He has nine home runs, six of which came in the first month of the season.
With runners in scoring position this season, Cespedes is hitting just .240/.259/.560 with two home runs and 11 RBI.
The Mets are 14 games back from the Washington Nationals in the National League East. Barring a miracle, the Mets will miss the playoffs and will be sellers at the trade deadline.
While the six-year veteran was hardly the only problem on a team that went 0-for-11 with RISP on Monday, he is in the midst of a 64 at-bat home run drought and continues to flounder.
He is just 16-for-74 in his last 18 games.
Cespedes hasn’t been on the field for more than half of the team’s games, and when he has been, he’s been different than the larger than life, game changing player who carried the team on his back to a division title in 2015 and followed up by clubbing 31 homers last season.
As the team crashes around him, Cespedes has been silent. Not speaking to media and not being the leader the Mets are doling out nearly $28 million to annually.
Fellow outfielder Jay Bruce, who may very well be traded within the next couple weeks, has answered questions standing at his locker nearly every game, but the man who wanted the limelight so desperately when things were going smoothly wants no part of it now, it seems.
As the old adage goes, “Actions speak louder than words.” Cespedes’ actions on Monday were worth $27.5 million.
