PORT ST. LUCIE — Wilmer Flores will have an opportunity this spring to show the Mets he can handle anything in the infield.
The experimentation will include first base, according to manager Terry Collins, as the Mets search for their best choice to back up Lucas Duda.
“[Flores] is going to play some first base this spring to make sure we have a right-handed option,” Collins said Thursday.
Though catchers Travis D’Arnaud and Kevin Plawecki may receive chances to play first base this spring, Flores appears to be Plan A.
“We certainly believe our catchers are going to hit, but if you are going to start moving those catchers around to play other positions, they have got to be hitting,” Collins said, referring to Plawecki. “And if we’re playing Travis d’Arnaud four days a week [at catcher] and he needs a day off, he needs a rest, and to put him at another position is going to defeat the purpose, so we’re going to have some other options to back up Lucas.”
With the young starting pitchers scheduled to skip the first several exhibition games, Collins said he wants to evaluate Rafael Montero, Sean Gilmartin and Robert Gsellman as potential rotation depth.
“Early in camp you’re going to see some of those guys start some games because we’ve got to have a real good idea of what they are going to do when they come up,” Collins said.
Infielder Matt Reynolds could see action in the outfield this spring, according to Collins.
Collins said it could be difficult to find playing time for Juan Lagares and Alejandro De Aza, both of whom will serve as depth in the outfield. Lagares struggled last season after posting respectable numbers in 2014 that earned him a five-year contract worth $23 million.
“The scouting reports get around, those are good scouts sitting in the stands that hand out good reports of how to pitch guys and how to get certain people out and I do think [Lagares] was affected by that,” Collins said. “I think they were making better pitches, they would get ahead of him and would just expand the strike zone on him.”
Former Mets reliever Bobby Parnell signed a minor-league deal with the Tigers. In his return from Tommy John surgery last season, Parnell went 2-4 with a 6.38 ERA and was not on the Mets’ roster during the postseason.