FRONT & CENTER
Lagares injury forces Mets to step up to the Mike
KISSIMMEE, Fla. — The Mets’ center-field situation grew even murkier Saturday, and that could lead to Michael Conforto making the Opening Day roster.
Juan Lagares suffered a strained left oblique while running out a foul ball in a 3-0 win over the Braves, and though Lagares said he didn’t think the injury was serious, manager Terry Collins said it could keep him out a considerable amount of time.
“I’m concerned,” Collins said at Champion Stadium. “Those things can be one of those injuries that don’t go away for a while. I’m very concerned. We’ll see how he is [Sunday].”
In the interim, Collins and the Mets will have to figure out an alternative in center, where they now have just Curtis Granderson, and even he is not an ideal fit.
With Brandon Nimmo out with a hamstring injury, Collins said he wants to see Conforto in center this week.
“Again, he may be on the team anyway, as we haven’t made any of those decisions yet,” Collins said. “But for sure, we’ve got to get him out in center field a little bit more. … I’ve seen enough to be comfortable. I just think he needs to be out there to play for himself so that he feels comfortable.”
Not surprisingly, it is an option for which Conforto voiced support.
“I think I showed last year I can hold my own out there and be an athlete, make plays and cover some ground,” said Conforto, who hit his third homer of the spring in the first inning off R.A. Dickey. “But we’ll see. Hopefully I get more reps out there and continue to get more comfortable and just feel more natural out there. That’s the big thing, just getting the reps out there.”
Another option mentioned by Collins is getting Jose Reyes more time in center and putting someone else at third base.
Lagares wasn’t convinced the injury was severe enough to keep him out long enough to miss Opening Day. He said it wasn’t as painful as the oblique strain he suffered on his right side that kept him out three weeks.
“That’s why I said something right away,” said Lagares, who grounded out on the next pitch. “It’s frustrating, but it’s nothing I can control. You have to run bases hard.”
He indicated he may undergo an MRI exam Sunday.
If Lagares is out for any length of time, it would leave the Mets without a true center fielder — with Curtis Granderson, Yoenis Cespedes and Jay Bruce starting and Conforto potentially as the fourth outfielder.
Conforto had two more hits Saturday and has an OPS of 1.005 this spring. If nothing else, he is making it hard for the Mets not to keep him in Queens when the season starts.
“I think everything I’ve done out on the field speaks for itself,” Conforto said.
The dilemma would be whether he and the team would be better served by him playing every day with Triple-A Las Vegas or in a fourth outfielder role in the majors.
“It’s a tough question to answer,” Conforto said. “I can’t see the future. I don’t know what’s gonna be best for me. I felt like I proved myself in Triple-A last year. … I feel like going back there, it could have some benefits. Playing every day is big, but at the end of the day, I think I need to figure it out in the big leagues and play against that level of pitching.”
Collins went back and forth on the issue, as well, but was focused on dealing with the immediate future. And that means putting Conforto in center as the spring winds down.
“You’ve just got to grind it out no matter where you play, but for sure right now, Michael’s going to get some playing time [in center] here at the end,” Collins said.