Cespedes plays first, hits HR in rehab game

July 18th, 2018
FILE - In this Sunday, April 1, 2018 file photo, New York Mets Yoenis Cespedes (52) holds his broken bat as he looks at a video replay of his flyout to deep left field during the third inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals in New York. Yoenis Cespedes' rehab assignment has been cut short after a setback, and the plummeting New York Mets aren't sure when they might get their slugging left fielder back from a nagging hip injury, Sunday, June 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
FILE - In this Sunday, April 1, 2018 file photo, New York Mets Yoenis Cespedes (52) holds his broken bat as he looks at a video replay of his flyout to deep left field during the third inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals in New York. Yoenis Cespedes' rehab assignment has been cut short after a setback, and the plummeting New York Mets aren't sure when they might get their slugging left fielder back from a nagging hip injury, Sunday, June 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)Kathy Willens/AP

Mets slugger hit a three-run home run and played first base for the first time as a professional player on Wednesday as he participated in his second Minor League rehab game with the Rookie-level GCL Mets.
The 32-year-old Cespedes, who has been on the disabled list since May 16 while he recuperates from a strained right hip flexor, went 1-for-4 and played an error-free game at first base as part of the GCL Mets' 6-3 victory over the GCL Astros at First Data Field in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Cespedes' three-run shot came off GCL Astros starter Angel Macuare with one out in the fifth. He also struck out swinging in the first inning, reached via an error in the third and flied out to right in his final trip to the plate in the seventh.

Cespedes returned to game action Tuesday and went 1-for-4 while playing seven innings in left field for the Rookie-level club. Cespedes also participated in a simulated game Monday, hitting two home runs and logging seven plate appearances along with five innings in the outfield.
The Mets were 19-18 with Cespedes in the lineup, but they have stumbled to a 39-55 record that ranked as the National League's second worst entering the All-Star break. Playing in the second season of his four-year, $110 million deal with New York, Cespedes hit .255 with eight home runs and 28 RBIs over 37 games before landing on the DL.