Comments on: Add a sprained thumb to Yoenis Cespedes’ list of injuries

By: paperlions

paperlions — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 20:28:09 +0000

Nah, his defense is horrible. He is among the worst in the league according to any defense metric you can find, and that is comparing him to a lot of LF butchers. At 26, he should be at his peak defensive ability…not a “work in progress”. If you don’t learn how to go back on a ball by the time you are 26….you probably aren’t going to learn it.

By: APBA Guy

APBA Guy — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 18:26:56 +0000

His defense is maybe not horrendous, but it isn’t good. He can’t go back on the ball at all, but coming in and lateral aren’t so bad. And he has a plus arm. So I’d call it below average, and a work in progress. There’s no doubt why the A’s moved Crisp back to center, and also no doubt why Melvin insisted that Cowgill be kept on the 25-man when he was healthy. Those 1-run games the A’s get into are even tougher to lose on a catchable ball over the head of the left fielder. Cowgill prevents that.

As a hitter, .790 isn’t at all bad for a rookie. MLB pitchers do work him carefully, aware of his power potential, but his biggest obstacle is the breaking ball off the outside corner. Until he recognizes that, and lays off it, he won’t be entirely effective.

By: paperlions

paperlions — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 15:45:05 +0000

Cespedes has 5 homers against Seattle (13 games) and 4 in his other 41 games.

He has been a bit better than expected offensively (mostly because he has shown some patience at the plate), but his defense has been horrendous. Still fun to watch his ABs, even though he doesn’t swing from his heels as often now.