Ruben Tejada Plays First Game With Mets Since 2015 World Series

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It was a long road back to the New York Mets for shortstop Ruben Tejada but he finally completed the cycle back to the orange and blue on Wednesday. For those who need a reminder, Tejada was memorably hurt during the 2015 World Series when Chase Utley took him out at second base and broke his leg. The play was roundly criticized as dirty, with Mets captain David Wright telling reporters after the game that he “had a problem with the play on a number of levels.”

That was over 1,400 days ago. In all that time, Tejada had exactly zero games played as a member of the New York Mets. Of course, he rehabbed and made his way back to the field, just not as a Met. Tejada played 36 MLB games in 2016 with St. Louis and San Francisco, hitting just .167, and then in 2017, he played 41 games with Baltimore, hitting .230. In 2018, he spent the entire year in Triple-A Norfolk before re-signing with the Mets on a minor league deal this March.

On Thursday, after spending most of 2019 with Triple-A Syracuse, Tejada was called back up to the Mets to replace Jeff McNeil, who went on the injured list. Not surprisingly, Tejada told New York reporters that the play in the 2015 World Series was a “hard moment” for him and, according to MLB.com writer Anthony DiComo, “he hasn’t talked to Utley since that day.”

Tejada hit .330 at Syracuse with six home runs so he’s definitely earned the call-up. After all, his defense was never a question, it’s always been his offense that’s been the question.

In his first game back with New York, the infielder started at second base and hit No. 7 in the batting order, going 0-for-4 in a 6-4 loss to Atlanta.

CATEGORY: MLB