Let’s be honest. The Oakland Athletics dropped $36 million on Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes in 2012 because of his bat. And so far, he’s lived up to the hype in that department, hitting 61 home runs in his first 2 1/2 seasons in the big leagues.
But defensively, at least according to baseball metrics, Cespedes has been just an average outfielder so far. His defensive WAR in 2012 was -1.1, and it received a slight bump up to -0.5 a year ago.
Last night, however, Cespedes transformed from an average outfielder who just booted a Mike Trout base hit into a superhuman force in a matter of five seconds, thanks to what will probably be the best throw you will ever see.
It’s 330 feet to the left field corner at Angel Stadium of Anaheim, so that means Cespedes threw that baseball about 310 feet in the air to home plate to nail Howie Kendrick and preserve the 1-1 tie.
The Athletics would lose the game in 14 innings, but who cares? That throw made my wife excited, and she hates baseball.
Speaking of wives, make sure she’s not around while you check this out: The Hottest MLB WAGs of 2013
