Photo Credit: Ed Delany, MMO
In yesterday’s 9-5 Grapefruit League victory over the Houston Astros, New York Mets’ slugger Yoenis Cespedes hit a mammoth second-inning home run to dead-centerfield, his second thus far in Spring Training.
CESPEDES HOME RUN for the Mets! pic.twitter.com/L2s7sJKwN6
— SportsNet New York (@SNYtv) March 6, 2018
Cespedes began the spring with a 2-3 (1 HR, 3 RBI) game on February 25th in PSL against the Marlins. In his four games since he’s gone a combined 2-12 with a single and that aforementioned bomb from yesterday.
While timing issues at the plate are always a hallmark of March in Florida or Arizona, after that first game, Yo’s at-bats looked very out-of-sync. On Sunday, versus the Nationals, I, personally, saw a cleaner, crisper swing as compared to his at-bats on Thursday and Friday.
He didn’t have much to show for his progress in the boxscore after Sunday’s three at-bats, but there were a handful of hard-hit balls that came off of Cespedes’ bat, which is always a good sign.
That monstrous blast on the first pitch from our old friend Collin McHugh yesterday signified, to me, that this is a healthy, hungry, smack-dab-in-the-middle of his prime Yoenis Cespedes and he’s not planning on heading into the season with anything but his A-game.
Cespedes’ re-emergence after a tough year marred by injuries could go very far in fortifying this team and improving their chances of success this season.
An everyday-lineup that includes Cespedes, Jay Bruce, Todd Frazier, and eventually Michael Conforto is sure to produce its’ fair share of home runs.
With the on-base capabilities of Brandon Nimmo who could be the center fielder until Conforto returns in May and possibly setting the table for the Mets potent lineup, we could see this team jump out to many early leads.
And as we’ve all seen in the past, early leads lead to good things. With the strength of the Mets pitching staff, starters and relievers, early leads and timely homers could considerably make a difference in the win column.
In my opinion, the New York Mets’ 2018 season begins and ends with that gorgeous swing of Yoenis Cespedes.
