In the last two days Oakland Athletics’ Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes made two amazing outfield assists. He’s made two insane throws from left field, prompting A’s fans on Twitter to use the hashtags like #DontGoOnYo and more.
#Throwenis #CubanCannon #DontGoOnYo #YoYoYoNotToday #Cespedes
— The guy that's tired of this shit. (@oaklandamerican) June 12, 2014
#ThrowenisCespedes, that one is pretty accurate too in describing what Cespedes has done in the last two games. On Tuesday Cespedes missed a ball hit by Mike Trout, managed to get the ball back and the Angels made the mistake of waving Howie Kendrick home. Theorized by physicist Meredith Wills, the initial velocity of Cespedes’ throw was between 115-130 mph.
.@sean_forman With LOTS of assumptions (At Bat doesn't do frame-by-frame), the initial velocity of the Cespedes throw was 115-130 mph.
— Dr. Meredith Wills (@Bbl_Astrophyscs) June 11, 2014
He did it again on Wednesday, making another incredible throw. This time Albert Pujols hit a ball to deep left field. The ball again, bounced away from Cespedes. He was able to get the ball just as Pujols rounded second. Apparently Pujols was thinking he had an easy triple. That was not the case. Cespedes cannoned the ball accurately to third base and Pujols was out. Both defensive efforts showed exactly why he is leading the league in outfield assists with nine. Behind him on the list are the Arizona Diamondbacks’ A.J. Pollock and the Toronto Blue Jays’ Jose Bautista, who have six outfield assists each.
Tuesday night in Anaheim Cespedes throws out Kendrick at the plate:
Wednesday night he gets Pujols at third:
Yoenis Cespedes, in his third season in the majors, is really beginning to show why he will be the superstar the A’s believed he could be when they signed him. In his rookie year he finished tenth in the American League MVP voting and second in the A.L. Rookie of the Year voting, just missing the award.
Besides leading MLB in assists, Cespedes is batting .253 with 12 home runs on the year. Wednesday night he went 3-5 with two RBI.
Cespedes started showing signs of stardom when he won last season’s Home Run Derby. He then almost won a Gold Glove Award in 2013 just missing out to Kansas City Royals’ left fielder Alex Gordon. The two assists he had against the Angels alone could definitely contribute to him winning a Gold Glove in 2014. If he keeps making these amazing throws, soon every team in MLB will know that you “Don’t go on Yo.”