New York Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes is nursing a minor hip injury that caused him to miss one of the team’s exhibition games.
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Cespedes Dealing with Hip Soreness
Tuesday, March 15
Newsday‘s Marc Carig relayed the update and cited the injury as the outfielder’s reason for missing the Mets’ game Tuesday against the Miami Marlins.
“He just said he’s a little stiff, so I said, ‘Take [the trip] off,’” manager Terry Collins said, per Adam Rubin of ESPN. “He’s been playing with it.”
Cespedes has been one of MLB‘s most dynamic power hitters since making his debut with the Oakland A’s in 2012, but he didn’t truly explode until he was dealt to the New York Mets at the 2015 trade deadline.
In the span of 57 games, Cespedes posted 17 home runs, 44 RBI and what equated to a career-best .604 slugging percentage with a .942 OPS for the National League champions.
And while Cespedes lingered on the open market for quite some time over the winter, he found middle ground with the Mets and signed a three-year, $75 million deal to remain in the Big Apple.
“I think it’s important to keep in mind, it’s not always about the amount of money being offered,” Cespedes said upon re-signing, according to the New York Daily News‘ Anthony McCarron. “It’s about wanting to be in a place that you want to play in, that you’re happy in. As you can see, that’s just what happened in my case.”
Considering preliminary indications haven’t pegged Cespedes’ injury as a serious one, the Mets are likely just playing it safe to make sure one of their key cogs isn’t overworked as the regular season approaches.
Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless noted otherwise.
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