ROY or Not, Cespedes a Quick Learner

Ordinarily, Oakland A's outfielder Yoenis Cespedes would earn Rookie of the Year hardware for his performance during the 2012 season. Cespedes racked up nearly 250 total bases and slugged 23 home runs while transitioning from Cuban baseball (thought to be the equivalent of A-Ball stateside) to the majors. 2012 could hardly be described as an ordinary year, however -- not with a Mickey Mantle-in-training grabbing the nation's attention with each circus-like catch and clout.

While Cespedes lost out to Mike Trout in ROY voting, the new face of Oakland's franchise proved to be a quick study against major league pitching. He started his big league career swinging and missing at Adam Dunn-like levels, but he connected much more frequently as he led the A's to their first playoff appearance since 2006.

At times, Cespedes looked like he came straight from A-Ball during his first month in the majors. His 38% miss rate during April was second-highest among qualified hitters, besting only Dave Kingman doppelganger Mark Reynolds. Cespedes had an especially hard time against low pitches, whiffing 57% of the time that he swung:

Cespedes' contact rate in April

Cespedes logged only 23 plate appearances in May due to a left hand injury. But when he returned in June, he was a much more complete hitter. His 28% overall miss rate matched the MLB average, and he sliced his miss rate on low pitches to 36%:

Cespedes' contact rate in June

He plateaued contact-wise during his monstrous July, missing 28% of pitches overall and a slightly smaller percentage of low stuff than the month before (33%)...

Cespedes' contact rate in July

...Then cut his miss rate down to 22% in August (26% on low pitches):

Cespedes' contact rate in August

Cespedes whiffed slightly more in September (25% overall, and 32% on low pitches), but that was still far below his early season rates:

Cespedes' contact rate in September

Cespedes was a near-automatic out against low pitches prior to his hand injury, coming up empty over half of the time he swung at stuff thrown at the knees and slugging just .333 (about 40 points below the MLB average). From June on, though, Cespedes cut his miss rate to below the league average led the American League with a .563 slugging percentage against low pitches. He went from a liability to lethal in no time, and his counterpunching pitchers so quickly bodes well for his future. Cespedes is no Trout, but he's much more than the one-dimensional slugger some feared he would become.

Cespedes with a Veteran's Strike Zone

All 2012 data through Sunday, April 22nd; Minimum 100 Pitches Outside the Strike Zone. (Click image to enlarge)

Athletics' rookie Yoenis Cespedes is getting calls like a veteran.  He has the lowest called strike rate on pitches out of the strike zone - in fact, of the 88 pitches he's taken outside the zone, only one has been called a strike.  In 2011, MLB players who saw at least 500 pitches out of the zone averaged a 9.6% called strike rate.

Yoenis Cespedes - All pitches taken outside the strike zone.You can see that the vast majority of called balls for Cespedes are not close to the strike zone, which certainly brings down his overall rate.  However, there are a number of pitches in that borderline area that have simply gone his way; six have come with two strikes. Not bad for a guy with only 16 Major League games under his belt.

Yoenis Cespedes: Three True Outcomes Star

While the Oakland A's are again scrounging for runs, ABs from Cuban import Yoenis Cespedes are quickly turning into must-see MLB.TV. Already a YouTube sensation, Cespedes has been a Three True Outcomes star in April. The center fielder has three towering homers and a 4-to-15 walk-to-strikeout ratio in 40 plate appearances, giving him a 55 Three True Outcomes percentage.

When the A's signed Cespedes to a four-year, $36 million deal, many scouting types praised the 26-year-old's power but worried that pitchers would exploit his wide strike zone. While Cespedes' thump and three hit by pitches have helped him produce a 143 OPS+ so far, he is chasing -- and whiffing -- at alarming rates.

Pitchers have thrown Cespedes a strike just 37% of the time in 2012. That's tied with Josh Hamilton for fourth-lowest among batters and way below the 48% league average. The most frequent location of those out-of-zone pitches is in on the hands:

Pitch location vs. Cespedes in 2012

Cespedes has gone after plenty of those pitches off the plate, with a 37% chase rate that places him in the top 25 among hitters (the league average is 27-28%). Most of Cespedes' chases are on those aforementioned inside offerings:

Cespedes' swing rate by pitch location, 2012

When Cespedes isn't hitting epic home runs (his three shots have gone 413, 464 and 423 feet, respectively), he's generating enough wind to power the entire West Coast. He has missed 42% of the pitches he has swung at, nearly doubling the MLB average and trailing only fellow TTO colleague Mark Reynolds among all batters.

Though it's difficult to infer much from 10 contests, Cespedes' game has shown immense strengths and weaknesses so far. He might be able to reach the Athletics' hoped-for home in San Jose from his current digs, but his plate approach needs serious tweaking. For ever Vladimir Guerrero who can succeed while swinging at everything, there are 100 Wily Mo Penas who can't.