Yoenis Cespedes

Yoenis Céspedes
Céspedes with the Mets before the 2015 World Series
New York Mets – No. 52
Outfielder
Born: (1985-10-18) October 18, 1985 (age 31) Campechuela, Granma Province, Cuba
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
March 28, 2012, for the Oakland Athletics
MLB statistics (through 2016 season)
Batting average	.272
Home runs	137
Runs batted in	453
Teams
Oakland Athletics (2012–2014) Boston Red Sox (2014) Detroit Tigers (2015) New York Mets (2015–present)
Career highlights and awards
2× All-Star (2014, 2016) Gold Glove Award (2015) Silver Slugger Award (2016) 2× Home Run Derby Champion (2013, 2014)

Yoenis Céspedes

Medal record
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.