NEW YORK -- On Sunday, Mets manager Terry Collins called Yoenis Cespedes one of the best left fielders in the Majors. Cespedes backed up his skipper's claim with a sliding catch in the left-field corner to rob Jake Lamb of extra bases in the fifth inning of the Mets' 3-2 loss to the D-backs.
With the ball slicing toward foul territory, Cespedes got on his horse, then left his feet to come up with the catch to end the frame. According to Statcast™, Cespedes' catch probability on the play was just 16 percent, making it a five-star catch -- his sixth since Statcast™ started tracking and first since 2015. Entering Monday, Cespedes had gone 0-for-24 on four- or five-star catches.
Cespedes reached a sprint speed of 27.6 feet per second, per Statcast™, which allowed him to cover 81 feet in the 4.4-second opportunity time needed to make the catch. The play came after Cespedes could not convert a pair of plays on Sunday with catch probabilities of 76 and 99 percent, respectively.
"It's always huge when the defense makes a nice play behind you," Mets starter Robert Gsellman, who tossed 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball, said. "Hats off to him for catching it. Appreciate that."
Cespedes also had another nice day at the plate, finishing 3-for-5 with an RBI single. Over his last 13 games, Cespedes has five homers, 11 RBIs and nine runs.