Coming into the season, the Mets wanted to upgrade at shortstop.  They wanted a player who had more range and power than what Ruben Tejada provided the Mets.  They wanted a player who was a steadier fielder who got on base more frequently than Wilmer Flores.  With that in mind, as free agency opened, the Mets jumped at the chance to add Asdrubal Cabrera.  During the month of April, Cabrera seemed to be exactly the type of player the Mets both wanted and needed to take them to the next level.  Cabrera was playing steady, if not spectacular defense, while hitting .300/.364/.400 with one homer and seven RBI.  He was a big reason why the Mets found themselves eight games over .500 and only a half-game back in the NL East at the close of April.

Then as the calendar turned to May, Cabrera turned into Flores.  Since May 1st, Cabrera has hit .249/.305/.435 with 11 homers.  Yes, his power numbers went up, but he’s also getting on base less frequently.  In addition, he seemingly good defense took a step back.  So far this season, Cabrera has a -6 DRS and a -3.3 UZR.  These numbers do not seem like a mirage either as Cabrera has averaged a -10 DRS and a -8.5 UZR over the past three seasons.  As Cabrera has struggled, so have the Mets.  Since May 1st, the Mets have been one game under .500 and they have fallen to six games behind the Nationals in the division.

Yes, there have been a number of issues that have led to this.  The Mets have been beset with injuries with Lucas Duda‘s back and David Wright‘s neck.  Cabrera was no stranger to injury.  As Terry Collins‘ brings up from time to time in his postgame press conferences, Cabrera has been dealing with a knee injury all season.  With that in mind, the All Star Break should prove beneficial to Cabrera to let him rest that knee and come out better in the second half.  And he will as Cabrera has been a second half player most of his career.  In fact, Cabrera has a better batting average, on base percentage, slugging, and OPS+ in the second half of the season.

This was mostly fueled by the incredible second half he had for the Tampa Bay Rays last year.  In the second half, Cabrera hit .328/.372/.544 with 10 homers and 36 RBI.  This included a three game set against the Mets in August of last year that saw him go 4-11 with a walk, a run, a double, and a stolen base in games started by Jacob deGrom, Bartolo Colon, and Noah Syndergaard.  That was following a stretch that saw Cabrera hit .232/.287/.387 with five homers and 12 RBI for May and June.  July rolled in with the All Star Break, and as mentioned above, Cabrera was a different player.  We’re seeing it again this year.

Since July 1st, Cabrera has hit .290/.333/.667 with four homers and five RBI.  Amazingly, Cabera only has a .217 BABIP for the month suggesting that Cabrera could possibly improve upon these already good July numbers.  If that is truly the case, we should see Cabrera repeat the outstanding second half he put together for the Rays last year.  If Cabrera is capable of doing that, the Mets will have a much improved lineup that should see them compete not just for the Wild Card but also for the division.

We have already seen what Cabrera is capable of doing and how that can help the Mets.  If he gets back to being that player, there is no stopping either him or the Mets.

Editor’s Note: this was also published on metsmerizedonline.com