The New York Mets recalled left fielder Michael Conforto late yesterday and optioned out fielder Brandon Nimmo to AAA Las Vegas.
Things just became complicated for the New York Mets outfield.
Conforto, who had a incredible April, had a horrendous May and June and was sent down to Las Vegas as a result.
The move was eminent, but some fans would have liked to see Nimmo stay and the team rid itself of Alejandro De Aza.
After last nights 5-0 win over the Phillies, outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, who has been playing both left field and center, said he would prefer to play left for the remainder of the season.
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This seems to make sense, as Cespedes was a Gold Glove winner a year ago in left and as it will be easier on Cespedes’ injured quad. This also allows 2014 Gold Glover Juan Lagares to play his natural position in center.
But that doesn’t mean that things are dandy in the Mets outfield.
Now with Cespedes in left, Lagares will play center, and Curtis Granderson will continue to play right.
Late last season and the beginning of this season, the lineup vs righties consisted of Conforto in left, Cespedes in center, and Granderson in right.
Against lefties, Cespedes would move over to left and Lagares would play center.
Conforto has only played left in his brief MLB career and with Cespedes in left everyday, the question is where to put Conforto?
In games Conforto started and the Mets led late, the team would pull a double switch, closer Jeurys Famila would enter, and Lagares would enter in center.
This would result in Cespedes moving to left.
But that doesn’t make sense, seeing how Lagares would already be in the game and Conforto is a worse defender than Lagares.
One option is to kick the tires with Conforto in center, to see how he performs both in the field and with the bat.
Another option is to make Lagares an everyday player and have Conforto come off the bench, but the Mets would like to use Conforto as much as they can.
A less likely option is to move Granderson to center and have Conforto and Lagares platoon in right, similar to last season. But this option has a lot of players playing new positions, and that’s simply not the best option.
Cespedes has been the Mets’ MVP on offense, leading the Mets in nearly every category at the plate and is a bat that the team needs in the lineup.
It will be interesting to see how Terry Collins manages this situation with the team fighting to stay in the NL Wildcard hunt.
