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Michael Brent Cuddyer (; born March 27, 1979) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played for 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Colorado Rockies, and New York Mets. He batted and threw right-handed. Cuddyer was a two-time MLB All-Star, and won a Silver Slugger Award in 2013, when he led the National League in batting average. Cuddyer announced his retirement after the 2015 season. He was inducted into the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame on August 19, 2017. Primarily a , Cuddyer made starts at every defensive position except catcher and shortstop over the course of his career.
During his high school career, he played American Legion Baseball and was named the 2014 American Legion Graduate of the Year.
Cuddyer has given back to his hometown and high school many times during his career.
Cuddyer underwent surgery to repair a tear in his right lateral meniscus in October 2005. The Twins then extended his contract on January 21, 2006, giving him a one-year deal worth $1.3 million. After beginning the 2006 season on the bench, Cuddyer emerged as a regular in right field and in the cleanup spot of the Twins batting order. He finished the season batting .284 with 24 home runs and a career-high 109 RBI in 150 games. Cuddyer finished second on the Twins in RBI and third in home runs.
On January 25, 2008, Cuddyer re-signed with the Twins with a three-year $24 million contract, with a $10.5 million club option for 2011.
On April 4, 2008, Cuddyer dislocated his right index finger after sliding headfirst into third base. He also suffered a laceration on the knuckle after getting stepped on by Kansas City Royals left fielder Alex Gordon. He was put on the 15-day disabled list the next day, and was activated on April 25 against the Texas Rangers. On his second game after being activated, Cuddyer hit a three-run home run off Rangers' Scott Feldman, his first of the 2008 season.
On May 22, 2009, Cuddyer hit for the cycle in a game against the Milwaukee Brewers. Three months later, on August 23, 2009, Cuddyer hit two home runs in the same inning, the seventh inning of the Twins' game against the Kansas City Royals, becoming the 53rd player in Major League Baseball to accomplish this feat. He is the only player in major league history to have performed both offensive rarities in the same baseball season. During September and October 2009, Cuddyer moved back into the infield playing first base filling in for Justin Morneau. For the 2009 season, he batted .276 with a career-high 32 home runs and 94 RBI in 153 games.
Cuddyer returned to the outfield at the start of the 2010 season, but also found playing time at first and third base. He batted .271 with 14 home runs and 81 RBI in 157 games that season.
On July 3, 2011, Cuddyer was named an All-Star for the first time as a managers' pick. On July 25, Cuddyer became the first Twins position player to pitch in a game in 21 years when he was inserted in the eighth inning of a Twins loss against the Texas Rangers, in which they lost 20–6. The right-hander gave up a double to Mike Napoli, a bloop single to Mitch Moreland, and walked Ian Kinsler with one out to load the bases. Cuddyer then retired Elvis Andrus on a fly ball and David Murphy on a pop-up for a scoreless inning. The last Twins position player to pitch was outfielder John Moses against the California Angels on July 31, 1990.
In 2013, Cuddyer set a personal best with a 27-game hitting streak, the longest in Rockies history to that point. Cuddyer was also named an All-Star for the second time in his career. Cuddyer finished the 2013 regular season with a .331 batting average, 20 home runs and 84 RBI in 130 games. He won the National League batting title by 10 points over Atlanta's Chris Johnson, the first batting title of his career. Cuddyer had never hit above .300 in a season prior to winning the batting title; his previous career-high was .284.
On August 17, 2014, Cuddyer again hit for the cycle, becoming the 30th player to hit for the cycle more than once and just the third player in history, after John Olerud and Bob Watson, to hit for the cycle in both the American and National Leagues. Cuddyer was the only player to hit for the cycle during the 2014 season.
On December 11, 2015, Cuddyer announced his retirement via an article on The Players' Tribune titled "Play Hard and Dream Big".
Due to a childhood virus, Cuddyer has been deaf in his left ear since he was 11 years old. However, he insists that his partial deafness has never interfered with his ability to hear teammates on the field and he does not view himself as hearing impaired.
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