Michael Cuddyer finds himself sitting on the sidelines nursing his ailing left knee more than in the field these days.
He played on Saturday and notched a single to give him five hits in his last three games. The problem is, those three games have spanned a week, and he will be sitting once again on Sunday as Terry Collins gives his knee an extra day of rest during the All-Star break.
Cuddyer was diagnosed with a bone bruise in his knee, something which only rest can cure. The hope is its heals enough with five full days of rest and he’s ready to go at 100 percent starting Friday in St. Louis.
The problem is, five days of rest may not be enough for the ailing left fielder. Bone bruises vary in degree, and while this one seems to be minor, this could be something that only gets aggravated when the season resumes on Friday.
At this point, the Mets may be best suited to finding someone who can play a corner outfield position (Ben Zobrist can do that, by the way), shifting Cuddyer and Curtis Granderson into a platoon, and hope they can get more production out of that platoon. That protects Cuddyer’s knee and protects Granderson’s ineptitude against left-handed pitching as well.
It’s an expensive solution, and the Mets certainly have to make a dollar investment in a new player, but if it’s about winning, the cost should be secondary and will take care of itself anyway if it results in a pennant race and the playoffs.
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One response to “Michael Cuddyer out yet again with an achy knee”
The mets have wasted, err spent, the money on Cuddyer and Grandy. So it’s sunk cost. If a platoon is the best approach – I agree that it may be – they could also work Cuddyer into 1B against lefties too. The Mets need depth and versatility. They don’t have to add a superstar if the price or prospect cost is too high now. By adding versatility they will simultaneously help their bench as better players will be on it and maybe they can actually hit over .200 from the bench
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