Yoenis Cespedes is expected to return to the New York Mets lineup on Friday night as a designated hitter against the New York Yankees. The club plans to demote Dominic Smith to make room for Cespedes, according to Andy Martino.
Cespedes landed on the disabled list on May 16 with a strained right hip flexor. Prior to the injury, the left fielder was hitting .255/.316/.474 with eight home runs, a 0.7 fWAR, and a 112 wRC+. He appeared in each of the team’s first 37 games despite battling flu-like symptoms early in the year and nagging leg problems later on. After hitting just .219 in April, he had 11 hits in 34 at-bats to go along with a .973 OPS in May before the injury forced him to the…
