Yoelqui Cespedes

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Chicago White Sox #16 prospect in 2023
  BA Grade/Risk: 45/High
  
  Track Record: Cespedes was already a known commodity when he signed with the White Sox in 2021 for $2.05 million, as the half-brother of the more famous Yoenis Cespedes. After finishing the 2021 regular season with Double-A Birmingham he returned there for all of 2022, with a performance that could be labeled as inconsistent. He flashed plenty of tools but struggled to hit breaking balls and struck out 30.1% of the time, to go with a low walk rate of just 5.7%. His most challenging month was in May when he dealt with back spasms.
  
  Scouting Report: There's no doubt about Cespedes' plus raw power. He has good bat speed, but his aggressiveness at the plate and swing-and-miss against off-speed pitches limit his offensive upside. He can mash fastballs over the plate, but he needs to improve his contact against heaters up in the zone and breaking balls down and away. His above-average speed and instincts allow him to get good jumps in the outfield, where he should be an above-average defender. Like his brother, Cespedes has an above-average arm. His speed also plays on the basepaths, and he's stolen 51 bases in his two pro seasons.
  
  The Future: Cespedes is ready for Triple-A Charlotte in 2023. Barring significant improvements in his approach at the plate, he profiles as a fourth outfielder. His speed and defense will make him a valuable commodity in that role, and he has time to make the adjustments that could push him to more of an everyday role.
  
  Scouting Grades: Hit: 40. Power: 55. Speed: 55. Fielding: 55. Arm: 55.
• 
  Ranked Chicago White Sox #2 prospect in 2022
  Track Record: Cespedes is a half-brother of longtime slugger Yoenis Cespedes and has been a known commodity in baseball circles since he played for Cuba’s World Baseball Classic team in 2017. He defected from Cuba in 2019 but waited until the 2020-21 international signing period to sign with the White Sox for $2.05 million. After visa issues were resolved, Cespedes began his pro career in June at High-A Winston-Salem before moving up to Double-A Birmingham late in the season. He hit .285/.350/.463 in 72 games across both levels and ended his first professional year with an assignment to the Arizona Fall League.
  
  Scouting Report: Despite a two-year absence from competitive baseball, Cespedes put up good numbers at both levels. He has an aggressive swing that gets long at times, leading to questions about how much contact he will make long-term, but he’s hit for high averages throughout his career and the White Sox have an excellent history of developing hitters from Cuba. Cespedes gets to his plus power in games and balls jump off his bat. He’s an above-average runner who is slower out of the box but ticks up underway. A shoulder issue limited Cespedes to DH duties early in the season, but once he made his way to the outfield, he showed above-average defense with good reads, reactions and jumps. His above-average arm fits in right field.
  
  The Future: Cespedes just needs to keep playing games to shake off the rust from his two years away from competition. He’ll eventually fit in the White Sox outfield next to fellow Cuba native Luis Robert.
  
• 
  Ranked Chicago White Sox #9 prospect in 2021
  TRACK RECORD: The younger brother of Yoenis Cespedes, Yoelqui has a long history of playing in international events, including representing Cuba at the 2017 World Baseball Classic. After leaving Cuba, he trained in Florida but the pandemic-related ban on in-person scouting meant not many clubs went in to see him. Many teams had already committed their pool money at that point, too. He signed with the White Sox for just north of $2 million.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Because he is 23 years old and hasn’t been evaluated in person recently, it’s hard to know what to expect from Cespedes once he debuts. He’s a short, strong player who can drive the ball with plenty of impact, especially to the opposite field, because of good bat speed and solid-average raw power. There’s also some pause because he was never truly a standout in Cuba, and his aggressive approach and swing path could lead to plenty of swing and miss. He’s a plus runner once he gets underway and shows a plus arm in the outfield as well. He could hold his own as a center fielder, but his most likely home is on a corner—which is where he played most often in Cuba—with Luis Robert entrenched there for Chicago.
  
  THE FUTURE: More than anything, Cespedes needs to get reps, especially against players his own age. Once that happens, he could move rather quickly.

• February, 2023 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 45/High
  
  Track Record: Cespedes was already a known commodity when he signed with the White Sox in 2021 for $2.05 million, as the half-brother of the more famous Yoenis Cespedes. After finishing the 2021 regular season with Double-A Birmingham he returned there for all of 2022, with a performance that could be labeled as inconsistent. He flashed plenty of tools but struggled to hit breaking balls and struck out 30.1% of the time, to go with a low walk rate of just 5.7%. His most challenging month was in May when he dealt with back spasms.
  
  Scouting Report: There's no doubt about Cespedes' plus raw power. He has good bat speed, but his aggressiveness at the plate and swing-and-miss against off-speed pitches limit his offensive upside. He can mash fastballs over the plate, but he needs to improve his contact against heaters up in the zone and breaking balls down and away. His above-average speed and instincts allow him to get good jumps in the outfield, where he should be an above-average defender. Like his brother, Cespedes has an above-average arm. His speed also plays on the basepaths, and he's stolen 51 bases in his two pro seasons.
  
  The Future: Cespedes is ready for Triple-A Charlotte in 2023. Barring significant improvements in his approach at the plate, he profiles as a fourth outfielder. His speed and defense will make him a valuable commodity in that role, and he has time to make the adjustments that could push him to more of an everyday role.
  
  Scouting Grades: Hit: 40. Power: 55. Speed: 55. Fielding: 55. Arm: 55.
• December, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 45/High
  
  Track Record: Cespedes was already a known commodity when he signed with the White Sox in 2021 for $2.05 million, as the half-brother of the more famous Yoenis Cespedes. After finishing the 2021 regular season with Double-A Birmingham he returned there for all of 2022, with a performance that could be labeled as inconsistent. He flashed plenty of tools but struggled to hit breaking balls and struck out 30.1% of the time, to go with a low walk rate of just 5.7%. His most challenging month was in May when he dealt with back spasms.
  
  Scouting Report: There's no doubt about Cespedes' plus raw power. He has good bat speed, but his aggressiveness at the plate and swing-and-miss against off-speed pitches limit his offensive upside. He can mash fastballs over the plate, but he needs to improve his contact against heaters up in the zone and breaking balls down and away. His above-average speed and instincts allow him to get good jumps in the outfield, where he should be an above-average defender. Like his brother, Cespedes has an above-average arm. His speed also plays on the basepaths, and he's stolen 51 bases in his two pro seasons.
  
  The Future: Cespedes is ready for Triple-A Charlotte in 2023. Barring significant improvements in his approach at the plate, he profiles as a fourth outfielder. His speed and defense will make him a valuable commodity in that role, and he has time to make the adjustments that could push him to more of an everyday role.
  
  Scouting Grades: Hit: 40. Power: 55. Speed: 55. Fielding: 55. Arm: 55.
• April, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade: 50/High
  
  Track Record: Cespedes is a half-brother of longtime slugger Yoenis Cespedes and has been a known commodity in baseball circles since he played for Cuba&#39s World Baseball Classic team in 2017. He defected from Cuba in 2019 but waited until the 2020-21 international signing period to sign with the White Sox for $2.05 million. After visa issues were resolved, Cespedes began his pro career in June at High-A Winston-Salem before moving up to Double-A Birmingham late in the season. He hit .285/.350/.463 in 72 games across both levels and ended his first professional year with an assignment to the Arizona Fall League.
  
  Scouting Report: Despite a two-year absence from competitive baseball, Cespedes put up good numbers at both levels. He has an aggressive swing that gets long at times, leading to questions about how much contact he will make long-term, but he&#39s hit for high averages throughout his career and the White Sox have an excellent history of developing hitters from Cuba. Cespedes gets to his plus power in games and balls jump off his bat. He&#39s an above-average runner who is slower out of the box but ticks up underway. A shoulder issue limited Cespedes to DH duties early in the season, but once he made his way to the outfield, he showed above-average defense with good reads, reactions and jumps. His above-average arm fits in right field.
  
  The Future: Cespedes just needs to keep playing games to shake off the rust from his two years away from competition. He&#39ll eventually fit in the White Sox outfield next to fellow Cuba native Luis Robert.
  
  Scouting Grades: Hit: 45. Power: 60. Speed: 55. Fielding: 55. Arm: 55.
• December, 2021 Scouting Report
  Track Record: Cespedes is a half-brother of longtime slugger Yoenis Cespedes and has been a known commodity in baseball circles since he played for Cuba’s World Baseball Classic team in 2017. He defected from Cuba in 2019 but waited until the 2020-21 international signing period to sign with the White Sox for $2.05 million. After visa issues were resolved, Cespedes began his pro career in June at High-A Winston-Salem before moving up to Double-A Birmingham late in the season. He hit .285/.350/.463 in 72 games across both levels and ended his first professional year with an assignment to the Arizona Fall League.
  
  Scouting Report: Despite a two-year absence from competitive baseball, Cespedes put up good numbers at both levels. He has an aggressive swing that gets long at times, leading to questions about how much contact he will make long-term, but he’s hit for high averages throughout his career and the White Sox have an excellent history of developing hitters from Cuba. Cespedes gets to his plus power in games and balls jump off his bat. He’s an above-average runner who is slower out of the box but ticks up underway. A shoulder issue limited Cespedes to DH duties early in the season, but once he made his way to the outfield, he showed above-average defense with good reads, reactions and jumps. His above-average arm fits in right field.
  
  The Future: Cespedes just needs to keep playing games to shake off the rust from his two years away from competition. He’ll eventually fit in the White Sox outfield next to fellow Cuba native Luis Robert.
  
• July, 2021 Scouting Report
  Cespedes follows stars like Jose Abreu and Luis Robert and fellow prospects Bryan Ramos, Yolbert Sanchez and Norge Vera in the line of Cubans in the White Sox's system. He's older than most first-year pros and had his start delayed by a visa issue, but still made it in time to be one of the team's representatives at this year's Futures Game. There have been some issues with swing and miss, but the organization believes those will come down as he kicks off the rust from the time away from the game. He has a chance to stick in center field.
• January, 2021 Scouting Report
  The 23-year-old brother Yoenis Cespedes, Yoelki looks to be ticketed to the White Sox for around $2 million, the latest in their run on Cuban players that includes righthander Norge Vera also in the class, following shortstop Yolbert Sanchez last year for $2.5 million, and outfielder Luis Robert and first baseman Jose Abreu before him. Cespedes played for Cuba in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, but it’s hard to relay an accurate, reliable report that’s up to date like we normally would. Cespedes has been training at his brother’s ranch in Port St. Lucie, Fla. and hasn’t been scouted much due in part to the coronavirus pandemic and MLB’s scouting ban on international players that ended in September. He played for Granma in Cuba’s Serie Nacional, batting .273/.353/.400 in 289 plate appearances with 17 walks, 42 strikeouts and six home runs in the 2017-18 season. The next year was his final season in Cuba and he hit .319/.355/.389 with two walks, 18 strikeouts and no home runs in 77 PAs as a 21-year-old. He has a shorter but strong, athletic frame with added bulk since leaving Cuba, showing good bat speed and a strong arm from the outfield. More depth will probably have to wait until Cespedes gets tested and scouted against more live pitching.
• December, 2020 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: The younger brother of Yoenis Cespedes, Yoelqui has a long history of playing in international events, including representing Cuba at the 2017 World Baseball Classic. After leaving Cuba, he trained in Florida but the pandemic-related ban on in-person scouting meant not many clubs went in to see him. Many teams had already committed their pool money at that point, too. He signed with the White Sox for just north of $2 million.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Because he is 23 years old and hasn’t been evaluated in person recently, it’s hard to know what to expect from Cespedes once he debuts. He’s a short, strong player who can drive the ball with plenty of impact, especially to the opposite field, because of good bat speed and solid-average raw power. There’s also some pause because he was never truly a standout in Cuba, and his aggressive approach and swing path could lead to plenty of swing and miss. He’s a plus runner once he gets underway and shows a plus arm in the outfield as well. He could hold his own as a center fielder, but his most likely home is on a corner—which is where he played most often in Cuba—with Luis Robert entrenched there for Chicago.
  
  THE FUTURE: More than anything, Cespedes needs to get reps, especially against players his own age. Once that happens, he could move rather quickly.