Just Mets

Daniel Murphy has been sidelined for nearly three weeks with a strained quad muscle, but he appears to now being on the right track towards returning to the Mets.

Murphy made his first rehab appearance on Tuesday for the GCL Mets, going 1-for-1 with a  walk before the game was stopped due to rain.

But perhaps the most significant part of this rehab appearance is he played third base for the GCL Mets.

On Monday, Mike Puma of the New York Post reported the Mets might option Dilson Herrera back to Triple-A Las Vegas when Murphy returns, which is now expected to be sometime this weekend.

This could mean one of two things.

If Murphy is playing third base right now, perhaps the Mets are considering keeping Herrera here and living through the growing pains. That’s probably not ideal at the moment, as Herrera is still too raw for the big leagues, albeit a very exciting prospect.

Alternatively, the Mets may decide to option Herrera, install Murphy at third base and shift Ruben Tejada to second base, which would probably be the second-best move they could make in this scenario.

That way, the middle infield defense is stronger, and there is a more polished player at third base in Murphy than Tejada.