Marlins prospect to debut vs. Mets

Derek Jeter is about to get a hint of how bright Miami’s future may be.

In Friday’s series opener against the Mets, the Marlins will give the organization’s No. 2 prospect, Sandy Alcantara, his first career major league start.

The 22-year-old right-hander is a major piece of the team’s rebuilding plan — acquired from St. Louis in the December trade for Marcell Ozuna — and has gone 5-3, with a 3.71 ERA at Triple-A this season.

Alcantara made eight relief appearances with the Cardinals last season, posting a 4.32 ERA.

“We’re looking forward to getting a close look at him,” Jeter told reporters in Miami on Wednesday. “You want to have patience with guys, but they’ve been developing fairly quickly, which is fun for us to see. It’s great for us as an organization. You look at the players we’ve acquired, whether that is via trade or the draft in previous years. ... We have a lot to be proud of.”

The Mets may also face another rookie starter Saturday, with multiple reports stating the Marlins are leaning toward promoting righthander Pablo Lopez.

Who the Mets will start Saturday remains unclear. Jason Vargas is eligible to return from the DL and threw a bullpen session Wednesday, but the lefty still had trouble moving on his strained right calf.

Seth Lugo (2-3, 2.76 ERA) could be called on to make his sixth start of the season. He allowed one earned run over five innings in Monday’s loss to the Pirates.

Yoenis Cespedes, who is rehabbing his sore right hip in nearby Port St. Lucie, is expected to meet with the Mets in Miami. There is still no timetable for him — or Jay Bruce — to resume baseball activities. David Wright will travel with the team and continue ramping up his activity. He took three straight days of batting practice this week, fielded grounders and did some light running.

Rookie reliever Tim Peterson has a 0.96 ERA over his past seven games (9 ¹/3 innings).

Callaway said he never considered letting Peterson — who has retired all 21 right-handed batters he’s faced this season, and threw nine pitches in recording Wednesday’s final two outs of the eighth inning— start the ninth, in which Jeurys Familia allowed four runs, and recorded no outs.

“You can’t put the kid in that situation,” Callaway said. “We put him in a tough situation already to come in and close out the eighth.”