CABBY’S ON THIRD
After the firestorm brought by Yoenis Cespedes’ comments Friday to the San Francisco Chronicle about Bob Melvin being his favorite manager and wanting to finish his career where it started in Oakland, Cespedes said after Friday’s game his comments don’t take away from his relationship with Terry Collins, and that he’d have no problem talking to Collins about what he said if needed.
A pow-wow won’t be necessary, according to Collins.
“No, he doesn’t have to (talk to me about his comments,)” Collins said Saturday.
“I know where he stands. We’ve talked a lot, as you guys can imagine. We’ve had a lot of conversations.”
Collins has no issue with Cespedes saying Melvin is the best manager he’s played for despite currently playing for Collins.
“That’s great. It doesn’t bother me a bit,” Collins said. “I just want him to keep hitting and keep hitting home runs. I think he’s one of the best players, if not one of the top-five players in the game of baseball. My respect for him is never gonna change, and we’re gonna move forward.”
Cespedes has gone 19 games without a homer, and is hitting .213 over that stretch.
Asdrubal Cabrera made his first career start at third base on Saturday, a move that had been expected with Neil Walker on the mend. Cabrera had played only 1 1/3 innings at third base in his MLB career, and that came in his MLB debut on Aug. 8, 2007.
Cabrera only took grounders at third base once, but Collins has no concerns about the infielder’s ability to play the position. “He’s got great hands, a great arm, he’ll be fine,” Collins said.
The 31-year-old only had two chances