Can Michael Cuddyer continue his spring training success?

The Mets big splash move of the offseason was signing now 36 year old outfielder, Michael Cuddyer. Most Mets fans were disappointed that the Mets gave up their first round pick for the 2015 draft for an aging outfielder, who struggled to stay on the field and played his past three seasons in Coors Field. During his tenure with the Twins, Cuddyer was an all-star once in 2011 and garnered a spot on the MVP ballot in 2009. So far this spring training Cuddyer has been on fire. He is hitting the ball well with a slash line of .326/.340/.761. Five of his fifteen hits were home runs and another five were doubles. His OBP will probably go up a few points and his slugging will come down considerably during the regular season.

Over Cuddyer’s entire career his slash line is .279/.347/.466, which is pretty good. His average in any given year was above .279 just four seasons, two of which were in Colorado. His on base percentage as well only peaked above his average in four seasons, but his SLG was above the average in five of his seasons. His best season by far was in 2013 for the Rockies and his best season as a part of the Twins was either 2006 or 2009. If he can come close to any of those seasons it will be a definite upgrade over the Mets left field last season. Coors Field is known for skyrocketing hitters numbers. Last year, the Rockies hit 119 home runs at Coors Field and just 67 home runs on the road. Taking out Cuddyer’s home numbers from 2013, his stats are still pretty impressive. If Cuddyer were to start a full season’s worth of games this year for the Mets and produced the same as he did on the road in 2013, then he could be a pretty good bat. A slash line of .311/.367/.485 would be something Mets fans would love to have sitting right behind Lucas Duda in the lineup. He may not be getting the power numbers that the Mets would want out of him, but his ability to hit the ball and get on base would be more than enough to make Mets fans happy about the signing. After missing a season and being older some regression can be expected, but even if he drops down to .300/.340/.450, that would still be pretty good. That performance would be better than any Met with significant playing time from last season besides Duda.

Will Cuddyer put up those numbers? Probably not. Most of the time Cuddyer was hitting ahead of Todd Helton, who even though it was his last season, could still do some damage. This season Cuddyer will be hitting ahead of either Travis d’Arnaud or Wilmer Flores. Compared to the stats that Todd Helton put up in 2013, d’Arnaud or Flores could easily put up those numbers this season. They provide Cuddyer with a certain amount of protection and will prevent pitchers from pitching around Cuddyer to get to either of the two of them. The production the Mets got out of their left fielders last year was horrible last season. It was one of their least productive positions last year. The defensive value is going to go down compared to last year, but the offensive value will go up considerably. If the defensive efficiency that has been talked about recently is worked into the position for the outfielders then Cuddyer and Lagares should be able to get most balls hit to left field and provide solid defense. The biggest concern regarding Cuddyer is his ability to stay on the field. Between his three seasons in Colorado, Cuddyer appeared in 280 games out of a possible 486. He will get a good amount of rest with his age and if Duda can hit lefties early in the season and Cuddyer sitting in favor of John Mayberry Jr. instead of Duda. Hopefully, Cuddyer’s injuries are not one’s that will plague him for an entire season and were just freak accidents that will not hinder him this season.