Due to multiple heel and ankle surgeries, asking Yoenis Cespedes to show his 2014 and 2015 performance level in the outfield seems unrealistic. It is clear that he can rake if healthy, but let’s not forget that he has a cannon of an arm, perhaps the best of the New York Mets‘ current roster now that Juan Lagares is not with the team.
MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, the Mets’ beat writer, wrote a couple of paragraphs about Cespedes’ prodigious right arm from the outfield as part of a series by the league’s official website.
“The health of Céspedes’ legs may remain uncertain following multiple heel surgeries and a fractured right ankle, but the health of his right arm most certainly does not. In February and March, Céspedes was a frequent sight during defensive drills in Port St. Lucie, Fla., unleashing throws that looked indistinguishable from those during his prime. A Gold Glove Award winner in 2015, Céspedes has annually rated highly on FanGraphs’ ARM metric, which measures how many runs above average an outfielder saves by preventing runners from advancing.
Will the Mets let him show his cannon of an arm?
“Now that Juan Lagares is gone from Flushing, Céspedes possesses the strongest arm in the Mets’ clubhouse. The only question is whether he’ll have a chance to use it, now 22 months removed from his last big league game, or if his leg issues will keep him limited to a designated-hitter role (or even off the field altogether),” DiComo wrote.
Certainly, 2014 and 2015 were Cespedes’ best seasons in the outfield. He accumulated 30 DRS between the two seasons, with high grades in UZR and UZR/150. In 2014, he had a 12.3 ARM rate per Fangraphs, and a year later, he had 7.5.
His days of being a great fielder may be over, but he still has a cannon of an arm, and he showed it in spring training. Will the New York Mets give him reps in the outfield this year, should there be a season?