In a showing of faith for his all-around playing abilities, Oakland Athletics skipper Bob Melvin has decided to move slugger Yoenis Cespedes back into the outfield while placing Seth Smith into the designated hitter role for Wednesday's matchup against the Texas Rangers.
Cespedes is batting a whoping .357 as the DH this season, garnering the A.L. Player of the Week after an 8-for-14 series in Minnesota with two home runs, a double, five runs scored six batted in during the three-game sweep of the Twins. Conversely, he's batting .262 in 44 games as an outfielder this season, which isn't bad, though Smith's .294 as an outfielder this year and .185 mark as the DH is certainly taking a hit in production.
"He is quite the athlete," Bob Melvin said of Cespedes. "You don't want to just limit him to DHing. We have plenty of guys that can play out there," Melvin acknowledged of his fluid outfield."
One this is for sure, the A's need Cespedes in the lineup. They are 34-24 when he plays, and just 12-20 without him, so anywhere he gets his at bats will behoove the ball club.
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