To watch Asdrubal Cabrera play for the New York Mets is to respect him.  While he may not have the best range at shorstop, he has shown tremendous instincts, and he is as sure-handed there as anyone in baseball.  While his stats don’t jump off the page at you, he is a gamer.  He practically willed the Mets to the postseason last year by being the best hitter in all of baseball to close out the season.  Mostly, Cabrera is willing to play injured, not just hurt, injured.

We saw it last season with him.  He dealt with a knee injury all last year, and it affected both his range and his offense.  He never complained or asked out of the lineup.  Instead, he went out there and grinded.  Eventually, it became to be too much for him.  That was evident with his struggles at the plate.  From the middle of May until the end of July, he hit a paltry .232/.285/.436.  This forced the Mets to put him on the disabled list to rest his injured knee and whatever else ailed him due to his compensating for the injury.  As we know, he came back a completely different player.  He came back a difference maker.

Right now, Cabrera looks worse than he did at any point last season.  Like the pro he is, he is going out there any playing.  He’s playing because the rest of the team is injured, and the Mets have limited options.  He’s playing because that’s what he does.  Cabrera goes out there and plays everyday trying to help his team win.  Even in his injured state, he’s doing that.  On Saturday, he had the Mets lone RBI.  In the field, he’s still showing he has steady hands.

However, with each and every play, it seems Cabrera takes a little longer to be able to get back to the dugout.  It takes him a little longer to get to his position.  His already limited range has worsened.  He’s gone from being a difference maker to a contributor.  As his leg worsens, he will likely become further limited and may once again put up numbers like he did before he was placed on the Disabled List.

It doesn’t make sense to handle Cabrera the same exact way he was handled last year.  We know he is willing to play through injuries, but we also know he has a limit.  At a certain point, he’s not going to be able to contribute much of anything.  Playing a player up until that point doesn’t help the player, and it doesn’t help the team.  Worse yet, playing injured players creates the chance that the injury could worsen requiring a longer stint on the disabled list.  If the Mets were to lose Cabrera for more than a short Disabled List stint, they would lose one of their better players.

The Mets owe it to Cabrera to let him get healthy and contribute the way he is capable of contributing.  They owe that to the team as well.  It’s time to let Cabrera get healthy because once he is, the Mets are a much better team.