Athletics’ Yoenis Cespedes And Josh Donaldson Crucial To Their Success
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Follow @mlbreportsThursday, July.18, 2013
Cespedes put on quite a show in this years HR Derby with him turning Citi Field into his own hitters paradise. He is hitting just .225 on the season for the Athletics. The value he has to the team means more than numbers can show. The opposing teams have to respect the power that he has. Cespedes power numbers are still good with him hitting 15 HRs and 43 RBIs. He does fairly well facing left-handers this season with him hitting .253 against him. He does struggle facing right-handers with his average just at .214 in 220 at-bats.
By Chris Lacey (Lead Baseball Columnist/Minority Website Owner) Follow @aecanada12
If you did not get a chance to watch the HR Derby on Monday, you missed a great young player put on a show. Oakland Athletics outfielder Yoenis Cespedes made Citi Field look like a hitters’ park with each ball he launched into orbit.
That ballpark is not known for being friendly to hitters, but don’t tell Cespedes that. This is not the first time he has been in a competition like this, and it won’t be his last.
Yoenis Cespedes 17 Homeruns in the First Round of the 2013 Homerun Derby
Grant Balfour is on an impressive run of closing games for the Athletics this season. He has saved a club record 43 consecutive games for them, with a 1.63 ERA. He is holding opposing batters to a .193 batting average and righties only hit .205 facing him.
He has been in numerous Home Run Derby competitions in his native land of Cuba, and has won several of them. Cespedes showed the power he possesses and the impact he creates just by being in the Athletics lineup.
The Athletics lead the American League West division by two games over the Texas Rangers this season and Cespedes is one of the reasons they are in first. The Athletics are 7th in the AL with 429 runs scored, and are first in runs allowed with 367.
He is not only an integral part of their offense, but their team as well with the Athletics having a record of 50-29 in games he plays this season. The offensive production has dropped for him from last season with him spending time on the D.L.
The presence of him in their lineup, still makes them team better. The opposing pitchers know that if they make a mistake, he can make them pay even though the average for him is low.
How important was Cespedes to The A’s Lineup? They went 82-47 with him in the lineup and 12-21 without him in 2012 en route to an AL West Division Win. This Year, the AL West leading Club is 50 – 29 with him in the lineup and 6 – 10 without him. That’s 132 – 76 (.634) with him and 18 – 31 (.367) without him since 2012 started. That is a monumental difference!
He is only hitting .225 in 307 at-bats for the Athletics this season but has hit 15 HRs and 43 RBIs to go with an OPS of .713. This is a stark contrast to last season when he had a .292 average with a .861 OPS.
He struggles facing right-handers with a batting average of .214 and striking out 57 times. However, when going up against southpaws he is a decent hitter with a .253 average and only striking out 23 times.
The one area that he does need to improve upon is when there is runners in scoring position, as he only has a .235 average with a OPS of .741 in 68 at-bats.
It gets progressively worse when there are two outs and runners in scoring position with a .156 average in 32 at-bats.
Despite the struggles that he has with men on base, the team still find ways to win games. As he gets more at-bats in this situation, he will find an approach that works for him.
Cespedes is not the only player that is helping the Athletics on offense this season. They also have third baseman Josh Donaldson contributing in a big way for the team. He has a .310/.379/.900 triple-slash in 345 at-bats this season.
He is having a career-year for Oakland with him crushing 16 HRs and having 61 RBIs to go along with 107 hits while just striking out just 65 times.
He played good for Oakland last season with a .241 average and an OPS of .687 in 274 at-bats. The Athletics could not have even predicted that he would have such a great first half for the team, and they will lean heavily on him during the second half.
He is hitting right-handed pitching at a good rate with a .290 batting average to go along with 10 HRs and .825 OPS in 245 at-bats. When he faces left-handed pitching, this is where he shines like a star with a .360 batting average and 1.082 OPS including six HRs in 100 at-bats.
When runners are in scoring position Donaldson is proving to be a tough matchup for pitchers with him having a .373/.475/1.008 triple-slash in 75 at-bats to go along with 40 RBIs.
He is just as good with two outs and runners in scoring position; he has a .333 batting average with an .803 OPS to go with 11 RBIs in 36 at-bats.
Oakland was known as a team that had solid young pitching, and was great in close games. They are now a team that can score runs with no issues, they have Cespedes and Donaldson to thank for that.
Donaldson is one of the best third baseman that no one knows about besides the people in Oakland. He has hit 16 HRs to go along with 61 RBIs and has a .310 batting average. He has a WAR of 4.3, which is 9th in the AL this season. He can hit both right-handed and left-handed pitching, as indicated by his .290 average facing righties and a .360 dealing with lefties. Donaldson loves to hit with runners in scoring position with him hitting .375 and a 1.008 OPS. He does just as well with two and runners in scoring position with an average of .333 and a .803 OPS.
*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com or their partners.***
A big thank-you goes out to our ”Lead Baseball Columnist and Minority Website Owner” Chris Lacey. Chris has been a fan of watching baseball since the age of 13. Now he does like all sports – but his favorites after baseball are hockey and basketball.
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Posted on July 18, 2013, in MLB Teams: Articles and Analysis, The Rest: Everything Baseball and tagged @aecanada12 on twitter, AL West, citi field, grant balfour, home run derby, josh donaldson, oakland athletics, texas rangers, yoenis cespedes. Bookmark the permalink. Comments Off on Athletics’ Yoenis Cespedes And Josh Donaldson Crucial To Their Success.
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