With a nagging knee injury that’s due to get examined further within the next day or two, New York Mets outfielder Michael Cuddyer may be best off going on the DL to get himself right. If that ends up being the case, the Mets should make a rather radical move and promote top prospect Michael Conforto straight from Double-A to make him their everyday left fielder.

Even before the injury popped up, Cuddyer was in a serious slump and was dragging down the Mets’ lineup. And things have only gotten worse since he’s been battling the bad knee in addition to opposing pitchers. Cuddyer would be doing himself and the team no favors by continuing to play with an injured knee and forcing the Mets to play shorthanded when he has to miss games, which has become a frequent occurrence. Cuddyer would be better off allowing his knee to heal and then trying to get back on track during a minor league rehab stint than playing through the pain and continuing to struggle at the expense of the team.

The Mets have admitted they’ve discussed promoting Conforto, but have decided against doing so at this time. But Cuddyer going on the DL would be the ideal time to bring up Conforto. Replacing an injured veteran like Cuddyer would take some of the pressure of Conforto, as he would know the move is only until the veteran returns, allowing him to go back to the minors without having his confidence shattered if he struggles. Of course, if Conforto has success and becomes an asset to the Mets’ offense, Cuddyer can easily fall into a platoon with Curtis Granderson when he returns from the DL, which may work to the benefit of both players.

Obviously, it’s rare to promote a player to the big leagues the year after he’s drafted before he’s even had one full season in the minors under his belt, but Conforto is an exception. He was the best college hitter in last year’s draft, and he’s clearly polished at the plate even with fewer than 500 minor-league at-bats. After a solid first half in Advanced-A, Conforto has more than handled himself in Double-A, putting together a line of .308/.391/.481. He’s the best pure hitter in the Mets’ farm system and is the most likely to succeed if the Mets need an everyday player to replace the injured Cuddyer.

There is certainly some risk in promoting Conforto to the big leagues at this point in his career, but the Mets have had profound offensive issues this season. Whether Cuddyer ends up on the DL or not, they have to take a chance and do something radical to find a solution. Unless they can pull off a trade to give their offense a boost, promoting Conforto is the move they need to make.

Bryan Zarpentine is a New York Mets writer at www.RantSports.com.  Like him on Facebook, follow him on twitter @BZarp and add him on Google.