PORT ST. LUCIE — In the Mets' search for a leadoff hitter, Juan Lagares will get every opportunity to prove he is worthy of the job.
Lagares, according to manager Terry Collins, is the preferred option over Curtis Granderson, but only if Lagares shows the Mets he is ready to assume such responsibility. To that end, the next month will serve as a test for the 25-year-old center fielder.
"I am going to see how spring training goes, see how Juan adjusts when he gets a chance to lead off," Collins said Saturday. "We are going to get him in there as much as we can. We know that Grandy has done it in the past and that's less of a worry because we know he's done it for quite a while.
"If you can get Juan to be as productive as he can be, with the fact he can run the bases like he can and now all of a sudden you follow him up with Grandy, David [Wright], [Lucas] Duda, [Michael] Cuddyer, [Daniel] Murphy, then all of a sudden it's a whole different middle of the lineup. But that is way down the road."
Granderson, who batted leadoff in 52 games for the Mets last season, has an advocate in hitting coach Kevin Long. The two are reunited after spending four seasons together with the Yankees, and Long has tried to sell Collins on the idea of getting a player with Granderson's offensive potential as many at-bats as possible.
But Granderson was largely a disappointment for the Mets last season, with a .227/.326/.388 slash line with 20 homers and 66 RBIs. The veteran outfielder bounced around the lineup throughout the season.
"When I've seen Curtis, and I've seen him at a very high level, he's able to get on base," Long said. "He's able to drive the ball. Certainly the top of the order, those guys are going to get more at-bats throughout the year than somebody [else]."
By Long's estimation Granderson would lose 70 to 80 at-bats over a full season if he were to hit sixth instead of leadoff.
Curtis Granderson is the Mets' other option for the leadoff spot.Photo: AP
"You want your best hitters and the guys who get on base the most [at leadoff], certainly you do," Long said. "There's some other options, so that is not etched in stone, but we'll see how it plays out.
"Terry is going to have the final say on that. But Curtis has done it before, he's capable of doing it, so we'll see how it plays out."
Long, who signed a three-year contract with the Mets after he was fired as Yankees hitting coach last offseason, said he likes Lagares' demeanor and the confidence he has shown.
Lagares had a .281/.321/.382 slash line last season with four homers and 47 RBIs in 452 at-bats. He batted leadoff in 38 games for the Mets last year and had a .329 on-base percentage from that spot.
But Lagares' penchant for chasing pitches remains a concern.
"He's going to have to hone in on the strike zone and kind of take these chases and these swings out of the zone and be able to lay off some pitches," Long said. "With Juan it's more about, can we maximize his ability to get on base, so we've got some work to do."
At minimum, according to Collins, the Mets would want Lagares to be in the .330-.340 range in on-base percentage for consideration at leadoff.
"We ask him to start pulling the ball, and he started pulling the ball," Collins said. "We asked him to start running the bases and he started running the bases.
"Now we are saying, 'You've got to shrink the strike zone down and be a little more patient at the plate.' He's trying. He's going to try and we're going to give him a look this spring."
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