Since baseball is a game of failure, it’s imperative for players to remain confident when they’re not successful. It’s even more imperative for those playing in large media markets to not be fazed by the fans and reporters who monitor their every move.
Understandably so, playing in a big city isn’t for everybody, but New York Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes appears to thrive on it more than anything else.
When he was acquired from the Detroit Tigers minutes before the non-waiver trade deadline last summer, he was expected to immediately become “the man” in New York’s lineup. Mets fans know how often players live up to those kinds of expectations upon landing in Flushing.
So, the fact that he’s lived up to them by hitting .290/.353/.584 with 42 home runs and 108 RBI in 154 games since joining the Mets is shocking. It’s also why fans hope Cespedes either decides against using his opt-out clause after this season, or New York finds a way to keep him with the organization via another contract.
The impact doesn’t seem big, but it is
We all know how much better New York’s lineup looks with Cespedes in the middle of it, but how much of an impact does he have on their win-loss record this year?
The #Mets are 48-46 with Yoenis Cespedes in the lineup and 12-15 without him. Not as big of a difference as you'd think.
— Rich MacLeod (@richmacleod) August 19, 2016
(They’ve gone 2-1 since this tweet, so 50-47 now.)
This is the eternal reminder that baseball is a team sport and in order to reach October and eventually hoist the World Series trophy, it takes an entire roster. The Mets have had plenty of other issues impacting their 2016 season – like injuries and just overall poor performance – that has suppressed Cespedes’ overall impact.
However, it’s undeniable how much of a difference he makes to the team’s psyche. He brings a certain type of confidence and swagger to the lineup that nobody else has. Mets pitchers suddenly don’t feel the need to be so perfect because the offense isn’t nearly as anemic as it was before, either.
He can change a game with one swing, and while a number of Mets players can also do that, it just feels different when Cespedes does. That was on display during New York’s last two wins against the San Francisco Giants over the weekend, with his two-run shot on Sunday Night Baseball being the perfect example.
When Cespedes walked to the plate in the seventh inning, Jeff Samardzija had just lost his no-hitter thanks to a Curtis Granderson double, but he had been cruising through New York’s lineup with relative ease. All it took was one mistake to change the whole complexion of the game:
Could someone other Cespedes have done that? Hypothetically, yes, but knowing how bad they’ve been as a team with runners in scoring position this year, it’s not outrageous to think this would’ve been another loss without him.
Success or failure truly doesn’t change his demeanor
Remaining confident in a game of failure is much easier said than done. Even baseball’s brightest stars battle with self-confidence when they’re in the middle of a bad slump. Some are able to mask their frustration from the public, but others can’t hide their emotions.
As much as we’d like to think Cespedes is a machine, he’s a person that’s prone to mistakes just like everyone else. However, what’s been evident about the Cuban outfielder since he’s arrived in New York is his confidence level never changes. Whether he misplays a ball in the outfield, strikes out in a key spot or hits a long home run, his demeanor remains constant.
Every team needs a star player like that.
“The noise” doesn’t affect him
With the daily grind that comes with a 162-game regular season, staying on a somewhat even keel is vital. Cespedes is able to do that, and it’s even more impressive because he can do so amongst all the noise around him (from reporters and social media).
Mets fans are some of the most passionate in baseball. They ride a roller coaster of emotions each year, and the power of Twitter allows them to let players know how they’re feeling at any point in time.
When Cespedes has a bad game, he’s reminded about it. When he has a good game, he’s also reminded about it. Right now is a great example because the Mets have won two games in a row, are back at .500, are still on the fringe of the NL Wild Card picture and Cespedes has been a big reason why.
If you take a look at Twitter right now, it’s probably full of fans tagging him and saying he’s the man, pleading with him to not opt out or telling him he needs to drag the Mets into the playoffs once again. If you looked at Twitter a couple weeks ago when he went on the disabled list just hours after playing a round of golf, the reaction was likely a little different.
Whether he loves that kind of attention or not (he probably does), Cespedes doesn’t let it get the best of him.
He could’ve moved on, but he didn’t
After being the main catalyst toward a Mets playoff run in 2015, he struggled through October with a .222/.232/.352 triple slash with two homers, eight RBI, 17 strikeouts and just one walk in 54 at-bats. It wasn’t how he wanted the year to end, but there’s no way New York even sniffs the postseason without the monster August and September he put together.
Once he officially became a free agent, nobody would’ve blamed him for capitalizing on an amazing run of productivity by signing a big contract – it’s just about what everyone else does and he deserved to get one himself. There were opportunities to earn close to the six-year contract he was rumored to be looking for, but ended up taking less overall to come back and finish what they started in Flushing (with that opt-out after 2016, of course).
The Twitter noise was nothing but positive when the news hit that day.
He stays relaxed when others can’t
Cespedes made his return from the disabled list on Friday, only to witness the Mets fall to San Francisco by a score of 8-1 in person. They were two games below .500, falling fast out of the NL Wild Card race and the expectation was that he had to carry the Mets offense like he did last summer.
Sounds like a lot of pressure, right? It’s probably similar to the pressure Jay Bruce has felt upon joining the Mets at this year’s non-waiver trade deadline, and he’s struggled to a .169/.263/.282 triple slash in his first 71 at-bats with New York.
It’s not easy to deal with that much pressure, and it continued to mount after a lackluster team performance on Friday. How did Cespedes handle it? Probably not like your average ballplayer:
Mets 9, Giants 5: Yoenis Cespedes is a game changerhttps://t.co/OYcrhtgr7n pic.twitter.com/Ldz6CshFjt
— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) August 21, 2016
He proceeded to go for 4-for-9 with a double, three homers and five RBI over the next two games.
Cespedes is not a perfect player, but his demeanor tells us he’s not only one of the few who can deal with playing in a big media market like New York, but one of the even fewer who prefers to do so.
That doesn’t come around very often. The Mets are likely well aware of this, and they’ll be left with a tough decision if he does opt out this winter.
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