Former NY Mets player might be having the worst season in MLB

Since Luis Robert Jr. hit the IL at the end of April, the New York Mets have embraced a youth movement in their outfield, with rookie A.J. Ewing joining Opening Day starter/rookie Carson Benge in the lineup on many occasions. The Mets have been rewarded for their aggressive promotion of Ewing, as the young stud exploded out of the gate and has a solid .863 OPS with a homer and two stolen bases in 32 at-bats so far.

Benge has been streaky in his rookie campaign, but hot lately. He's hitting .349 over the past 15 games and .375 over the past seven games. A .257 overage on the year with three home runs, 17 RBI, and eight stolen bases shows that Benge was MLB-ready, and the Mets were right to give him the Opening Day nod.

It's worth noting that neither Benge nor Ewing might have had these opportunities in front of them in 2026 if the Mets had retained Cedric Mullins in free agency. Thankfully, New York didn't re-sign Mullins this past winter, as he's been pretty darn awful for the Tampa Bay Rays this season.

Cedric Mullins is hitting a career low point in Tampa Bay so far in 2026

It's not like Mullins' audition with the Mets in 2025 deserved much acclaim, by the way. After getting acquired via trade by New York at the deadline, Mullins -- an All-Star and Silver Slugger in 2021 with the Baltimore Orioles, it should be noted -- struggled to do much at all with the Mets, slashing .182/.284/.281 with two homers, a .565 OPS, and eight stolen bags in 42 games.

It's been similarly dreary for Mullins in a Rays uniform this year. He's slashing .189/.248/.284 in 43 games and has already been caught stealing five times in 15 attempts.

When the Rays signed Mullins to a one-year, $7 million contract in December, it was with hopes that the speedy center fielder, still not over the hill by any means at 31 years old, might reclaim some of the magic he displayed during his Baltimore days. Sadly, Mullins' batting average and OPS numbers have steadily declined since his peak 2021 season, and that trend has only continued in Tampa.

In the 2022 season, Mullins dropped down to a .258 batting average from his .291 figure of the prior season, and in subsequent years, he's hit .233, .234, .216 (last season), and now the .189 number mentioned above. Moreover, Mullins' 30 homers in 2021 have never been approached again, as he hasn't tallied more than 18 in a campaign since.

If he's not a slugger, Mullins has to be a guy who gets on base and stockpiles steals, but he's not been either of those things recently. It's a good thing the Mets got out of the Mullins business when they did, especially given the potential of Benge and Ewing.

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