Rojas feels Cespedes ‘looks ready’ for opener
Yoenis Cespedes is “certain” he’ll be ready for Opening Day, and manager Luis Rojas doesn’t disagree.
While noting he would like to see more out of him in the outfield before making any proclamations, Rojas seemed to suggest the oft-injured slugger is on track to be in the starting lineup when the Mets host the Braves on July 24 to start this abbreviated 60-game season.
“I feel that his bat is ready for Opening Day. The way we saw him running yesterday, I feel he looks ready for Opening Day,” Rojas said Sunday as the Mets continued spring training 2.0 at Citi Field. “He said it [on Saturday], which is always great to hear. But we’ll keep reassessing with that part.”
Cespedes continued to impress in his live at-bats in Sunday’s intrasquad game. He lined out to right field against Marcus Stroman and added an oppositefield RBI single off Seth Lugo.
On Saturday, Cespedes said he will be ready to go and believes he is running close to normal after missing all of last season and most of 2018 due to multiple lower leg injuries. Cespedes last appeared in a real game on July 20, 2018, nearly two full years ago. Since, he has undergone surgery on each of his heels and sustained ankle fractures in an accident on his ranch involving a wild boar. Sometimes, Cespedes said he wakes up with tightness in a tendon above his heel, but otherwise he feels fine.
“His base-running is ahead of what I thought it was going to be like,” Rojas said. “I saw him running the bases [on Saturday] and he looks great. The defense is the part we need to see more and more [of].”
Cespedes said he was confident he can play the outfield and is willing to do as much that is asked of him. So far, he has only played one inning out there in a simulated game, so the Mets want to get him more reps before deciding he can be out there when the real games begin. Cespedes didn’t seem too concerned that the long layoff will lead to rust, saying it will be like riding a bike. Rojas didn’t seem worried either.
“This guy, he does it all,” the firstyear manager said. “He looks really [good].”