Cespedes mans OF for first time in two seasons

Yoenis Cespedes played his first game in the outfield in more than two years when he started in left in the Mets’ 6-0 loss to the Yankees in an exhibition game in The Bronx on Sunday night.

But the closest the slugger got to a ball was when he watched Aaron Judge’s blast go into the seats in left. Cespedes, by design, only played three innings.

Still, the Mets remain encouraged by what they’ve seen from the 34-year-old, who is coming off multiple foot surgeries.

And that was even true on the Judge home run. “The drop step going back that he did tonight — unfortunately the ball went over the wall — but it looked natural for me,’’ manager Luis Rojas said.

Next time, perhaps Cespedes will actually get a ball hit to him.

“We feel comfortable with him out there,’’ Rojas said. “That’s why he was out there for the innings that he was. Not getting a chance [Sunday] will take us to another level where he might play a few more innings next time.”

The Mets have three intrasquad games scheduled before they open the regular season Friday against the Braves in Queens.

“Right now, our hope is to play him on both ends,’’ Rojas said of Cespedes’ ability to hit and play the field.

“We talked about his progression running the bases,’’ Rojas said. “We saw him try to leg out an infield single [Saturday]. That’s a good taste of something he hasn’t done for a while. Similar to that is what we want to see with some chances in left field.”

Rojas wants Cespedes to get tested in the outfield with routine things like calling off a teammate for a fly ball.

So far, Cespedes has been limited to mostly showing off his agility in scrimmages, drills and other controlled environments. Soon, there will be less opportunity for those chances.

“Right now, I’m surprised with what he’s able to do,’’ Rojas said.