Yoenis Cespedes to begin rehab assignment for Double-A tonight

Yoenis Cespedes will play in his first minor league rehab game tonight as he works his way back from the disabled list. Cespedes will be in the lineup for the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies as they visit the Trenton Thunder.

Cespedes has not played in a game for the New York Mets since May 13, and landed on the disabled list three days later with a mild strain of his right hip flexor. Prior to this, he appeared in each of the team’s first 37 games and had a .255/.316/.474 slash line with eight homes runs, as well as a 114 wRC+ and a 0.7 fWAR. The Mets, who were 19-18 at the time, have won just eight of their last 22 and have struggled offensively since losing their biggest bat. His return will be a big help to an offense that ranks in the bottom third of the league in average (.233), home runs (59) and runs scored (231).

Cespedes tried to play through injuries during much of the early part of May, and even put up a .324 average during the month — compared to a .233 average in March and April. In his last game, he hit a solo home run in his last game on May 13 against the Philadelphia Phillies, which inspired manager Mickey Callaway to say that Cespedes was, “gutting it out for the team”.

Over the course of the past week, Cespedes got live at-bats on Tuesday and ran the bases on Wednesday before confirming that Cespedes would begin his rehab stint. The team has not announced a timetable for his rehab assignment.