The Wilmer Flores experiment may be back on at shortstop, at least on a temporary basis.
Terry Collins said on Saturday afternoon at Citi Field Flores will start taking ground balls at shortstop again in an effort to make him more versatile, now that Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson have joined the club.
Collins suggested Tejada will remain the primary shortstop, but warned slumps can change that and having Flores work at shortstop will help mitigate a problem at the position.
Collins would not commit to Uribe as the primary third baseman, but noted Daniel Murphy will also see time again at second base to allow Uribe to play frequently at third, which is his strongest position at this point in his career.
Ultimately Collins will play an alignment which is producing at the plate, and he essentially told his players they need to perform if they want to play.
“Whoever swings the bat well is going to play,” the manager said.
The best defensive alignment would be to have Uribe at second, Tejada at shortstop, and Murphy or Kelly Johnson at second base, with Flores filling in at second and third.
It isn’t ideal to have Flores go back to shortstop – he was a huge liability at the position before the Mets finally decided to give up on the experiment when Murphy returned from the disabled list. And, there is no way they can have Flores pair with Murphy up the middle again.
But as Collins said, the Mets need to find offense. However, they also need to feature the best defensive alignment to prevent runs, as well.
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