The experiment has begun.
Yoenis Cespedes started at first base Wednesday in a Gulf Coast League game in which he went 1-for-4 with a home run and a strikeout. Cespedes played whole game.
A team source characterized Cespedes as handling first base well but added that he wasn’t exactly tested.
The two-time All-Star has been out since May 13 with a hip flexor and strained quadriceps. The Mets will be watching how the 32-year-old performs in the infield, evaluating whether to give him a try at first base — where his legs could use the break — in the major leagues as well.
“Right now our focus is to get him back to the big leagues as a left fielder and let him do some ground balls while he is in rehab,” manager Mickey Callaway said last week. “He is definitely taking some ground balls over [at first base] just to kind of initially evaluate where he’s at and if it’s even an option for this year.
“Or is it something that needs to be, if he does it, does it need to be introduced in the offseason and let him have a full spring training?”
Cespedes returned to game action Tuesday in the GCL, playing in left field, after he had played five innings Monday in a simulated game in Port St. Lucie.
Cespedes has been willing to switch positions for his own health and the team’s. With him in the infield, the Mets could play Jay Bruce, Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto in the outfield.
“We know he is open to the idea,” assistant GM John Ricco said last week. “That is something we have to discuss long term if that works. He is taking grounders to see how it feels. That is the extent of it so far. We hope to have him in rehab games during the All-Star break. We still anticipate that he comes back as an outfielder. But we have had discussions, and he is open to first base.”
Taking over at first base would block Dominic Smith and Triple-A first baseman Peter Alonso, two of the team’s top prospects, yet Alonso has not debuted and Smith has struggled.
Cespedes has missed significant time in the past two seasons with leg issues. He may make his return, perhaps at DH, when the All-Star break ends Friday and the Mets take on the Yankees.
— Additional reporting by Mike Puma
