Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
There is no shortage of players who deserve to share in the blame for the abysmal offensive performance put on by the New York Mets this season. But one who deserves special mention is left fielder Michael Cuddyer, who has been one of the Mets’ biggest disappointments this season and is the centerpiece of the team’s offensive woes in 2015.
For a player with his track record, Cuddyer’s numbers are downright pitiful this season, as he currently owns a line of .256/.310/.384. His OPS of .695 is the lowest of his career since he played eight games as a rookie in 2001. Even during a recent 12-game hitting streak, he failed to really catch fire and make a huge impact in the Mets’ lineup, raising his batting average a mere 24 points, which have already disappeared in the midst of another slump.
After an injury-plagued 2014 season, the Mets would have been naive to think they were getting the same player who won a batting title in 2013. But surely they could have expected more from Cuddyer than what they’ve gotten. Even if he didn’t play many games in 2014, when Cuddyer did play, he was productive. It’s hard to fathom a player declining so quickly after being the best pure hitter in the National League two years ago. Even during his time with the Colorado Rockies Cuddyer didn’t have outrageous home and away splits, so leaving Coors Field is nothing more than a minor influence on his poor hitting performance this year.
It’s not so much that the Mets aren’t getting their money’s worth for Cuddyer, or even the fact that they had to give up their first-round pick in this year’s draft to sign him — it’s that New York has really needed Cuddyer, and he’s let them down immensely. Cuddyer was supposed to be a significant offensive upgrade in the Mets’ outfield and an important addition to the middle of their lineup, but that hasn’t happened. With David Wright, Travis d’Arnaud and Daniel Murphy all missing significant time due to injury, the Mets have needed Cuddyer even more to solidify the middle of their lineup, but he hasn’t delivered.
If Cuddyer was batting down in the Mets’ lineup, his struggles wouldn’t be much of an issue. But he’s spent a majority of this season batting cleanup for the Mets, and thus his struggles have been magnified. Aside from mucking things up in the middle of the New York batting order, Cuddyer’s numbers with runners in scoring position and in late-close situations have been even worse than his season totals. Cuddyer should be one of the few players opposing teams fear in key situations, but he has failed to come through in the clutch time and time again.
To be fair, a lot has been asked of Cuddyer, as there is a great deal of pressure on him to produce with the Mets missing several key players due to injury, most notably Wright. But with New York being forced to play so many young, unproven players, they have to be able to lean on a veteran like Cuddyer who has such an impressive track record. His inability to live up to his contract and fall so far short of his career numbers have made Cuddyer the centerpiece of the Mets’ offensive struggles in 2015.
Bryan Zarpentine is a New York Mets writer at www.RantSports.com. Like him on Facebook, follow him on twitter @BZarp and add him on Google.
