MLB: 5 Cold Starts to ’16 season That Will Thaw

• Lucas Duda, First Base, New York Mets

After his first 35 bats of the regular season, New York Mets first baseman Lucas Duda is batting .200, with seven hits, four runs, three RBIs, zero home runs, and has a .243 on-base percentage, plus an OPS of .472.

Those averages are off his career marks of a .247 batting average, with a .344 on-base percentage and .793 OPS. His slugging percentage is low by his usual standards as well, with the first baseman having that currently at .229, compared to last season where it was .486 and a seven-year career mark of .448.

This is OK though, because sometimes it takes hitters time to really warm up, plus most of the Mets are struggling out of the gate in ’16 as the team is 4-6 overall following their amazing run to the World Series as the National League champions in ’15.

Duda the past two season hasn’t finished a season under .240 at the plate, and I don’t see that happening this year either. His slugging numbers will improve as the past three seasons that number hasn’t been under the .400 mark (in ’15 it was .486) and there is no way his OPS will be .472 as the months continue, because last year and the previous two seasons it has been over .800.

If I were a fan of the Mets, I would keep track of Duda, but considering his recent season numbers, I would be at ease knowing what he’s capable of achieving.

Next: Mike Trout