Yoenis Céspedes | |||
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Céspedes with the Mets before the 2015 World Series
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New York Mets – No. 52 | |||
Outfielder | |||
Born: Campechuela, Granma Province, Cuba |
October 18, 1985 |||
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MLB debut | |||
March 28, 2012, for the Oakland Athletics | |||
MLB statistics (through 2016 season) |
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Batting average | .272 | ||
Home runs | 137 | ||
Runs batted in | 453 | ||
Teams | |||
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Career highlights and awards | |||
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Medal record | ||
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Men's baseball | ||
Representing Cuba | ||
Baseball World Cup | ||
2009 Nettuno | Team | |
International Cup | ||
2010 Taichung | Team | |
Pan American Games | ||
2007 Rio de Janeiro | Team | |
World University Baseball Championship | ||
2010 Tokyo | Team |
Yoenis Céspedes Milanés (born October 18, 1985), nicknamed La Potencia, is a Cuban professional baseball outfielder for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox, and Detroit Tigers. Before joining the Major Leagues, he played in the Cuban National Series and was a member of the Cuba national baseball team. He won the 2013 and 2014 Home Run Derby. While primarily a left fielder in his early career, he has split between left and center field since joining the Mets.
Céspedes was born in the small town of Campechuela, in Granma Province, Cuba. Céspedes is the son of Estela Milanés, a softball pitcher who appeared in the 2000 Summer Olympics for Cuba, and Cresencio Céspedes, a former Cuban League catcher who separated from Milanés when Yoenis was one year old. At age 10, he was sent by his mother to a state-run school where he could focus on baseball. He played eight seasons in the Cuban Winter League before defecting from Cuba in 2011. In the summer of 2011, Céspedes and six others took a 23-hour speedboat ride departing Cuba and heading for the Dominican Republic. After arriving in the Dominican, he met Dominican agent Edgar Mercedes who established residency for him in Santiago which allowed him to bypass the MLB Draft and become a free-agent.