Cameron Maybin has a chance to make Mets history on Friday night – and not in a good way.
After going 0-for-5 in the Mets’ doubleheader against the Rockies Thursday, Maybin is now 0-for-26 as a Met – tying the longest hitless streak to start a Mets career. If his next at-bat ends in anything but a hit, Maybin will pass Charley Smith, who was 0-for-26 in 1964 before singling in his 27th at-bat.
Smith went on to hit .239 in 127 games that season, exactly what his career average ended up being at the end of his 10-year MLB tenure.
Maybin, a career .254 hitter, hit .247 in 32 games in 2021 for Detroit and the Cubs. However, he started this season 4-for-39 at the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate before being purchased by the Mets to fill in their depleted outfield, and the 0-for-26 makes his collective 2021 batting average a miniscule .062.
Perhaps Maybin’s best and biggest chance at a hit was his last at-bat on Thursday. He came up in the sixth inning of Game 2 with the bases loaded and one out, looking to break a 3-1 game open; however, he smacked a ball that deflected off third baseman Ryan McMahon’s glove and right to shortstop Brendan Rodgers, who fired to the plate to force James McCann and make the play a 5-6-2 fielder’s choice.
Maybin’s previous stint in New York was much more successful: he slashed .285/.364/.494 in 82 games for the 2019 Yankees after being acquired that April from Cleveland’s minor-league system – a similar cash trade to bolster an injury-depleted Yankees outfield.
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