Yoenis Céspedes

He tied for seventh in doubles (24), was second in total bases (220, 6 behind Gurriel) and was 4th in slugging.

Cuba thus missed the final four of an event for the first time ever; the Cuban team had also made the finals of every global baseball competition since 1959.

Yoenis Céspedes Milanés (born October 18, 1985), nicknamed "La Potencia" (The Power), is a Cuban-born former professional baseball outfielder.

Céspedes is the son of Estela Milanés, a softball pitcher who appeared in the 2000 Summer Olympics for Cuba, and Cresencio Céspedes, a former Cuban League catcher who separated from Milanés when Yoenis was one year old.

At age 10, he was sent by his mother to a state-run school where he could focus on baseball.

Before defecting, Céspedes' first name was generally spelled Yoennis.

Céspedes debuted in the Cuban National Series with Granma during the 2003–04 Cuban National Series, hitting .302/.382/.503 (batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage).

He was considered for the Cuban National Series Rookie of the Year Award, but lost out to Frank Montieth.

He batted .313/.403/.540 in the 2004–05 season.

In the 2005–06 season, he hit .351/.444/.649 with 23 home runs, 89 runs and 78 runs batted in (RBI) in 88 games played.

He tied Yulieski Gurriel for the National Series lead in runs and was four home runs behind Gurriel for the lead, placing second.

He hit .481/.481/.741 for Cuba in the 2006 Haarlem Baseball Week.

Despite his strong performance, Céspedes was left off Cuba's roster for the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006.

Joe Kehoskie, at the time an agent who followed Cuban baseball closely, told Toronto's The Globe and Mail that Céspedes was the best player left at home by Cuba.

He produced at a .303/.402/.541 rate in the 2006–2007 season with 17 home runs and 79 runs in 89 games.

He again led in runs.

He was also fifth in doubles (24), tied Yosvani Peraza for third in home runs, was fourth in total bases (184), tied Alfredo Despaigne for fourth in RBI, tied for fourth in steals (15) and was sixth in slugging.

He was 1-for-7 with a steal and a run in the 2007 Pan-American Games in his debut for the Cuban national team.

He hit .284/.342/.552 in the 2007–08 season.

He was among the league leaders in RBI (tying teammate Despaigne for third with 78), tied Urgellés for fourth in runs (82), was second in home runs (26, trailing only Alexei Bell) and fourth in 202 total bases.

Céspedes batted .323/.411/.601 in the 2008–2009 season with 24 homers and 83 runs in 87 games.

He tied Leonys Martín for fourth in the league in runs and tied Rolando Meriño for third in home runs (trailing Alfredo Despaigne and Joan Carlos Pedroso).

He was the starting center fielder for Cuba in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

He hit .458/.480/1.000 with a double, three triples, two home runs, five runs and five RBI in six games.

He led Cuba in slugging and was second to Frederich Cepeda in average, OBP and OPS.

He tied Cepeda and Gurriel for the team lead in runs and tied Gourriel for second in homers, behind Cepeda.

From Campechuela, Cuba, Céspedes played eight seasons until 2010 for the Alazanes de Granma in the Cuban National Series.

In that time, he batted .319, .404 on-base percentage (OBP), .565 slugging percentage (SLG), 169 home runs and 557 runs batted in (RBI) over 528 games.

He was also a member of the Cuba national team, winning gold medals in three tournaments.

He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut on March 28, 2012, for the Oakland Athletics, and has also played in MLB for the Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, and New York Mets.

Primarily a left fielder in his early career, he split between left and center field on the Mets.

A right-hand batter and fielder, he stands 5 ft tall and weighs 220 lb.

In MLB, he won the Home Run Derby in both 2013 and 2014.

He is a two-time All-Star, and in 2015, played in his first World Series as member of the National League champion Mets.

Céspedes was born in the small town of Campechuela, in Granma Province, Cuba.

He broke a 1–1 tie against Australia with a 6th-inning solo homer off Damian Moss and started a 16–4 romp over Mexico with a leadoff triple against Pablo Ortega.

Céspedes tripled off Hisashi Iwakuma in Cuba's last game of the tournament, a 5–0 loss to Japan, but did not score.

Earlier in that game, he dropped a fly from Michihiro Ogasawara to let the first two Japanese runs score.

He was seventh in total bases (197), ninth in RBI (76) and 10th in slugging.

He made the All-Star outfield alongside Giorvis Duvergel and Despaigne.