Just Mets

Last night, Terry Collins said he intended to get Ruben Tejada a start at shortstop in one of the final two games of the road trip.

As such, Collins told reporters on Saturday Tejada will in fact start Sunday’s series finale against the Braves and make his 2015 debut then.

Collins said last night the move to play Tejada had nothing to do with Wilmer Flores’ struggles.

He said he spoke today with Flores – who is 2-for-14 with three errors so far this year – and told him to, “relax.”

Tejada certainly needs to get in there. But sitting Flores today after his nightmare of a game yesterday would’ve sent a bad message to him, and certainly would not have helped his confidence. Flores said on several occasions last year it was significant knowing he was the shortstop, and a collar at the plate or a rough day in the field would not bench him.

If this poor play continues, the Mets will eventually have to make a decision, but the worst thing they can do is hit the panic button too quickly, especially since there’s no real everyday option at their disposal just yet.