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On July 31, 2015, Céspedes was traded to the New York Mets for minor league pitchers Michael Fulmer and Luis Cessa. On August 21, Céspedes went 5 for 6 against the Colorado Rockies, hitting 3 home runs in a game for the first time. It was ranked the best offensive game of the season by ESPN.com.
Céspedes, who hit 32 homers, total, in winning the 2013 Derby at Citi Field in New York, hit 30 homers Monday. He said that rain before and during the event affected all the participants, who got ready early only to have to wait through an hour delay. Since then, the ballpark has ranked closer to the middle of the pack in home runs, 18th out of 30. In fact, hometown favorite David Wright had joked he would take his Derby swings from second base.
Major League Baseball Home Run Derby
His collection includes a custom 2016 Ford F-250, two custom Polaris Slingshots, a custom Lamborghini Aventador, an Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, and a custom Jeep Wrangler, all totaling a little under $1 million. Céspedes lives in Manhattan, New York, during the season, and has a ranch in Port St. Lucie, Florida during the off-season. He has a son, Yoenis Jr., whom he hasn't seen since he left Cuba, and is only able to speak to on the phone. In August 2016, Céspedes was criticized for golfing while on the disabled list. Céspedes was born in the small town of Campechuela, in Granma Province, Cuba. Céspedes is the son of Estela Milanés, a softball pitcher who appeared in the 2000 Summer Olympics for Cuba, and Cresencio Céspedes, a former Cuban League catcher who separated from Milanés when Yoenis was one year old.
In the final week of fan voting to select starters for the All Star Game, he was passed by Adam Jones. On July 14, 2014, Céspedes won the Home Run Derby for a second time, becoming the first player to win consecutive Home Run Derby titles since Ken Griffey Jr. accomplished the feat in 1999. Céspedes played in the 2014 MLB All-Star Game where he went 0 for 2. Cespedes, the defending Home Run Derby champ and final batter of the first round, went deep three times.
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In his first 41 games with the Mets, Céspedes exploded, posting a .309 batting average, 17 home runs, 42 RBIs, and a .691 slugging percentage. His offensive explosion helped the Mets jump up to a 9.5 game lead over the Washington Nationals in the National League East as of September 14. Because of his efforts, Céspedes was awarded the NL Player of the Week Award for September 7 to the 13th.
The Mariners’ home field has earned a reputation for being a pitcher-friendly setting, but it’s less intimidating for home runs hitters. In three of the past five seasons, T-Mobile Park ranked in the league’s top half in home run Park Factor. It’s become a hallmark of the MLB season as baseball’s best hitters vie for the distinction of being crowned the Home Run Derby Champion. The first was a projected 504-foot rainbow that broke up a party in a second-deck suite in deep left-center. Starting with that swing of the bat, he would go 36 swings -- from that point in the first round through his 11th swing in the finals -- without ever making two "outs" in a row. It was practically Josh Hamilton-esque, minus the skyscrapers and the monuments.
Topps Home Run Derby Champions #HRD13 Justin Morneau
The AL team captain, Canó, selected Yoenis Céspedes of the Oakland Athletics, Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles, and Prince Fielder of the Detroit Tigers. The NL team captain, Wright, selected Michael Cuddyer and Carlos González of the Colorado Rockies, and Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals. González then withdrew due to a sprained finger and was replaced by Pedro Álvarez of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Alvarez was added when Colorado outfielder Carlos Gonzalez pulled out with a sprained middle finger.
Before the swing-off, Stanton and Bautista provided most of the excitement. Between the NL and AL matchups, players and fans held up signs with the names of friends and family fighting cancer as part of a “Stand Up to Cancer” campaign. The second round featured head-to-head matchups in each league’s bracket with Cincinnati’s Todd Frazier and Oakland’s Yoenis Cespedes emerging as the winners. Puig failed to hit a home run in the first round of the derby. When Frazier kicked off the third round with only one homer, it looked like his derby was over.
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In the event of a tie, hitters participate in a swing-off, with an extra minute to add to their total. The winner of the matchup advances until a lone batter is left standing. For the Series, Céspedes batted .150 with no extra-base hits.
He would have an even more memorable throw, again against the Angels, when he threw out Howie Kendrick at home on June 10. Céspedes bobbled a hit off the bat of Mike Trout, causing Kendrick to attempt to run home. Céspedes corralled the ball and fired a 300-foot throw on the fly to nail Kendrick at the plate. He would once again terrorize Angel baserunners as he threw out Albert Pujols trying to advance to third when the ball got by Céspedes in the next game. This put Céspedes at 11 outfield assists on the season, which led the league. One soaring shot flew deep out to left-center in cavernous Marlins Park.
Yoenis Cespedes won baseball's power-hitting competition with a dazzling display Monday night, becoming the first player left out of the All-Star Game to take home the crown. The Oakland Athletics slugger beat Bryce Harper 9-8 in the final round at reconfigured Citi Field, hitting the decisive drive with five swings to spare. Stanton scrunched one ball that cleared the batter's eye and came down in the upper deck in dead center field, projected at 476 feet. And a rarefied lunar launch that landed in the seemingly unreachable third deck in left, projected at 465. And a supersonic 3-wood to dead center that was short-hopping the batter's eye about two-thirds of a second after it left the bat.
Asked if he'd have continued if he'd known that, Céspedes said simply, "Si." And Céspedes, who fled Cuba just two years ago, then won the event by hitting nine homers to Bryce Harper's eight in the final round. For Céspedes, the best part was having his mother, Estela Milanés, and other family members with him; their long ordeal to get to the U.S. from Cuba was detailed in Monday's Chronicle. The first rattled back to earth in the first row of the third deck in left. ESPN's Home Run Tracker estimated it would have traveled 473 feet if the stadium hadn't gotten in the way. OK, so this wasn't quite the seismic equal of Hamilton's memorable Derby show in the old Yankee Stadium, when 28 majestic bombs danced with the ghosts of Ruth and Mantle in the first round alone.
He batted .345, hit 4 home runs, scored 6 runs, and drove 12 RBI while posting a 1.263 OPS. On March 28, in his major league debut, he went 1 for 3, and was also hit by a pitch. The following day, he hit his first major league home run, a 2-run shot off Seattle Mariners relief pitcher Shawn Kelley.
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