Ricardo Céspedes

Ricardo Junior Céspedes

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 1", Weight 205 lb.

• Born August 24, 1997 in Bronx, NY USA

BR register page

Biographical Information

Ricardo Céspedes has played in the minors and for the Dominican national team.

He was born in New York but grew up in the Dominican Republic. He was signed by New York Mets scouts Alexis De La Cruz and Gerardo Cabrera on his 16th birthday. The signing bonus was reported as $725,000. Beginning his pro career the next summer, he hit .266/.311/.335 between the DSL Mets 1 and DSL Mets 2.

In 2015, he batted .224/.282/.267 for the GCL Mets, then improved to .322/.356/.379 for the 2016 Kingsport Mets. He was 8th in the Appalachian League in average (between Bobby Melley and Andrew Knizner) and his 73 hits were one shy of leader Eleardo Cabrera. He began 2017 with the Columbia Fireflies (5 for 12, 2B, R, 3 RBI), GCL Mets (3 for 15) and Brooklyn Cyclones (.225/.262/.262 in 21 G). He was then traded with Merandy González to the Miami Marlins for AJ Ramos. He finished the year with the Batavia Muckdogs, eking out a .190/.200/.215 line in 19 contests with one walk for 21 whiffs.

Ricardo played for Batavia (.241/.289/.325 in 23 G), the Greensboro Grasshoppers (.215/.261/.299 in 33 G) and Jupiter Hammerheads (1 for 2) in 2018. After starting 2019 slowly with the Clinton LumberKings (.204/.250/.292 in 33 G), he was released, only 21 years old. He next resurfaced in the US in 2022, batting .295/.327/.381 for the independent Staten Island FerryHawks. He had 26 doubles and 21 steals in 27 tries. He tied former big leaguer Alejandro De Aza for 10th in the Atlantic League in hits (129).

Making his winter league debut, he was 0 for 2 for the 2022-2023 Leones del Escogido, backing up Elier Hernández and others in center. Back with the Ferryhawks for '23, he hit .261/.301/.386 with 64 runs and 25 swipes, while registering 11 outfield assists. He also spent time representing the Dominican Republic in the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games, playing regularly in center and left. In their opener, he hit leadoff and singled off Nicaragua's Osman Gutiérrez his first time up. He finished at .400/.520/.600 with four walks and four runs in six games, handling 16 putouts. In the Bronze Medal Game, he went deep off Venezuela's Ivan Andueza but the Dominicans fell, 8-7. He tied Yoandy Rea for 8th in the Games in hits (8) and tied for 7th in walks.

He is back with the Dominicans for the 2023 Pan American Games.