Yoenis Cespedes has been many things in his brief but eventful New York Mets tenure: trade-deadline savior, key lineup cog, National League champion.
A shade under two months into the 2016 season, we can officially add MVP candidate to the list.
After going 2-for-4 with a home run Monday in the Mets’ 7-1 win over the Washington Nationals, Cespedes has an MLB-leading 15 homers on the season. He also leads the NL in OPS (1.060) and RBI (36).
By any measure, he’s raking. And the Mets, at 26-18, are just a half-game back of Washington in the NL East.
It’s a continuation of the success Cespedes enjoyed with New York last year, when he hit 17 home runs with a .942 OPS in 57 games after a late July trade from the Detroit Tigers.
The Mets, of course, rode their stable of arms and Cespedes‘ scalding bat to a division title and ultimately advanced to the World Series.
The 30-year-old Cuban masher then tested free agency, seeking six years and nine figures, but eventually re-upped with the Mets on a three-year, $75 million deal with a one-year opt-out.
Now, barring a catastrophic injury, Cespedes will surely pull that opt-out ripcord and get showered with cash this winter in a weak free-agent class.
That’s a discussion for another day, however. For now, Cespedes and the Mets are focused on another deep run together. And if he keeps swinging like this, Cespedes could be setting himself up for some shiny new hardware.
It’s obviously way too early to handicap the awards races; a lot can and will change between now and the 162-game finish line.
At present, however, there’s a short list of MVP front-runners in the Senior Circuit, and Cespedes is on it.
It begins with Washington Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper, the reigning NL MVP. Still just 23 years old, Harper is having an exemplary follow-up campaign with 11 home runs, 30 RBI and a .989 OPS. And his brash, Make Baseball Fun Again personality is firmly intact.
Then there’s Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw, the 2014 NL MVP, who leads the majors in strikeouts, WHIP and innings pitched.
If you like a dark horse, lay some money on Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado, whose 14 home runs, .979 OPS and Gold Glove-caliber defense mostly obscure the Rockies’ mediocrity and the perceived Coors Field effect.
Stack Cespedes‘ early output next to any of those players’, however, and you can make a case that he’s the leader in the clubhouse.
If you put extra stock in the “valuable” part of the equation, it’s worth noting that the Mets’ vaunted starting rotation hasn’t been quite as dominant as advertised, with right-hander Matt Harvey, in particular, wobbling.
And now, New York is dealing with the loss of first baseman Lucas Duda, who is expected to miss significant time with a stress fracture in his lower back. Duda was the Mets’ home run leader each of the past two seasons, which makes the presence of Cespedes‘ stick all the more essential.
Cespedes has boasted game-changing pop since arriving in the big leagues in 2012 with the Oakland A’s. But one of the hallmarks of his success so far in 2016 has been increased patience and plate discipline.
After drawing just 33 walks in 159 games last season, Cespedes has already coaxed 17 free passes in 40 games this year.
“He’s really shrunk his zone, and I’m so proud of that,” Mets hitting coach Kevin Long said, per Kevin Kernan of the New York Post. “It’s easier said than done. He’s been one way for a long time and he’s been very successful at it, but he’s a different animal right now.”
Cespedes concurred.
“I’m being more selective at home plate and that has allowed me to hit more home runs,” he said, per Kernan. “A lot of Cuban players are hitters who swing at balls out of the zone. Having to adjust to a smaller strike zone is a task.”
Cespedes is also hitting more balls in the air and fewer on the ground than he did last season, which helps explain the power surge. At the same time, as FanGraphs‘ Dave Cameron noted, “Cespedes has somehow pulled off the pretty rare trick of adding power without having to swing and miss more often, and that has made him a substantially better hitter than he was earlier in his career.”
We’re still in “it’s early” caveat land. Cespedes‘ walk rate could regress, bringing his OPS down with it. But he’s been doing this superstar thing long enough, particularly in a Mets uniform, to believe it’s far more than a sample-size mirage.
Cespedes is for real.
The better he plays, the more likely he is to opt out and bolt for a Brink’s truck payday after the season. But, as they attempt to march back to October, that’s a risk the Mets will gladly take.
Go ahead, Queens faithful, start the chant: “M-V-P, M-V-P…”
All statistics current as of May 23 and courtesy of MLB.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.
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