It was just over four months ago, James Loney was playing at Triple-A for the Padres before being acquired by the Mets as a temporary fill-in at first base with Lucas Duda out with a back injury.
Now, in the Mets’ biggest game of the season, Duda will be watching Loney take his spot again.
Manager Terry Collins wouldn’t reveal who will start at first base in Wednesday’s wild-card game against the Giants, but a club source told The Post that Loney will earn the nod over Duda.
Duda came off the disabled list more than two weeks ago and has played in eight games since returning from a stress fracture in his lower back, but he hit .217 (5-for-23) with no home runs and seven strikeouts. Duda, who never had a rehab stint, also looked rusty in the field, committing two errors in Sunday’s regular-season finale, and the team had concern about how the 30-year was moving around.
The Mets even discussed starting right-handed hitting Eric Campbell against Giants lefty Madison Bumgarner, but ultimately opted against inserting the utility player who spent most of the season at Triple-A Las Vegas.
Though Loney can’t match Duda’s power at the plate, he has far more experience against Bumgarner (2-for-13) than Duda (0-for-1) and is a career .251 hitter against lefties, while Duda has hit just .224 against southpaws.
Loney, who hit .265 this season, went 4-for-14 with two home runs in the final four games of the regular season.
“I feel good,” Loney said during Tuesday’s workout at Citi Field. “I feel confident. I’m excited.”
Loney hasn’t appeared in the playoffs since 2013, but he will be playing in his fifth postseason, having hit .354 with three home runs and 16 RBIs in 22 playoff games.
He never has reached the World Series, but this time, with this team, feels different.
“I’ve been to the playoffs a few times before, but here it feels special,” Loney said. “It feels like we have all the right people here and we have the right talent.
“I think everybody’s just confident in themselves to get their jobs done. … You guys have seen the last few months what we’re able to do and we just gotta continue playing like that.”