Since David Wright went on the Disabled List, Terry Collins has mostly turned to Asdrubal Cabrera to hit in the second spot in the lineup.  Last night, it worked with Cabrera going 2-5 with 2 runs.  He helped spark a Mets offense that scored 11 runs.  However, far too often that hasn’t been the case.  In his 27 games hitting in the second spot in the order, Cabrera has hit .222/.282/.361.

Those numbers are not what the Mets signed up for when they added Cabrera as a free agent in the offseason.  Coming into this season, Cabrera was a .267/.329/.412 hitter who averaged 11 homers and 57 RBI a year.  In the second half of the 2015 season, he hit an astonishing .328/.372/.544 with 10 homers and 36 RBI.  The Mets saw this first-hand during a three game set in Tampa last August.  During that three game set, Cabrera went 4-11 with a walk, a run, a double, and a stolen base.  He did this against Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, and Bartolo Colon.  Clearly, the Mets were wowed by Cabrera, and they pounced on him in the offseason.

Early in the season, when the Mets were winning, Cabrera was great.  The Mets went 15-7 in April, and Cabrera hit .300/.364/.400.  Since April, both Cabrera and the Mets have faltered.  The Mets have gone 20-22 and Cabrera has hit .247/.310/.390.  It’s   Yes, there have been many issues that have afflicted the Mets including the aforementioned Wright injury.  However, as we see, one of those issues has been Cabrera’s struggles at the plate.

In fact, Cabrera has hit .306/.367/.440 in Mets wins.  Last night, Cabrera hit, and he helped ignite the Mets offense.  The Mets need more of that Cabrera this year.