The New York Mets activated Juan Lagares from the disabled list on Saturday and to make room for him optioned RHP Seth Lugo to Triple-A Las Vegas.
Lagares is expected to be in the starting lineup on Sunday against Chicago Cubs left-hander Jon Lester.
Lugo pitched a scoreless inning during his short stay with the Mets.
Original Report – July 1
General manager Sandy Alderson suggested that rehabbing center fielder Juan Lagares may be activated from the disabled list on Friday.
With a strained right calf continuing to plague right fielder Curtis Granderson and forcing the team to play with a short bench, the Mets are looking to accelerate the return for Lagares who is on rehab assignment at Double-A Binghamton.
Lagares, 27, went on the disabled list two weeks ago with a sprained left thumb and he’s shown himself to be ready, collecting three three hits in his first two rehab games for Binghamton while a sparkling defensive catch in center field in one of those games, and gunning down a player at the plate in the other.
After beginning the season on the Mets bench, Lagares began earning himself increased playing time and was hitting .289 with five doubles, a triple and two homers in 90 at-bats. Two of those doubles and the home run came as pinch hitter and gave the Mets a lead or tied the game.
Additionally, Lagares was showing an all new approach at the plate posting a career high walk rate while cutting down on his strikeouts. He was posting career highs with a .433 slugging and .760 OPS.
Lagares could see regular playing at least while Granderson remains out for at least the next 2-3 games. After that it remains to be seen what Terry Collins has in store for him.
The 2014 gold glove winner, tore the ligament in his left thumb while making a spectacular diving catch to rob Ichiro Suzuki of an extra-base hit in Miami on June 4.
And for those of you hoping for a significant addition to the Mets offense, Sandy Alderson strongly implied that Lagares along with Jose Reyes and the anticipated return of Lucas Duda may be the only additions the Mets make before the trade deadline.
“What I’ve said before is that there is no single acquisition, at least that I can see, that’s going to change what’s transpired over the last two months,” Alderson said.
“It’s going to have to come from within. There may be things that we can do that can improve the team. We’ve done various things over the last couple of months to try to improve the team. Certainly we’ll be monitoring the market. But I don’t believe right now that an acquisition is going to make a big difference for us.” (ESPN)
“We get Juan Lagares back. Reyes makes a contribution. Who knows where little, marginal improvements — hitting with men in scoring position across the board — those are the kinds of things that are going to make a difference over the next three months.”
So there you go…
