PORT ST. LUCIE — For Opening Day, the Mets could be headed toward Plan Gee.
With Jon Niese sidelined because of recent elbow soreness, manager Terry Collins on Thursday said he has penciled in Dillon Gee as his starting pitcher for Opening Day against the Nationals. The final decision won’t come until next week.
The fact Gee is 7-3 with a 3.04 ERA lifetime against the Nationals works in his favor.
“[Gee] is probably the lead guy because of his success against the Nationals,” Collins said. “And to be honest, no disrespect to Bartolo [Colon] or anybody else, this guy has won more games for us in three years than anybody on the staff.”
But Collins will wait until early next week to make his decision final, leaving Colon still in the mix. The manager first wants to ensure Gee doesn’t need an extra day of rest for whatever reason
Gee is scheduled to pitch an exhibition game against the Twins on Friday and an additional Grapefruit League start five days later, putting him in line for March 31 at Citi Field.
“I haven’t been told officially, but if it’s me, I’m ready to go,” Gee said. “It’s humbling they would trust me with that day. It’s a big honor if I get it, but it’s one day out of 162. That’s the whole season. But it definitely would be cool to pitch on that day.”
Niese, who had an MRI exam on his elbow this week that showed no structural damage, is expected to throw a bullpen session on Monday and begin the year on the disabled list, but still could be in position to pitch for the Mets in the first week of the season.
Collins had Juan Lagares batting ninth, behind pitcher Zack Wheeler on Thursday. The manager has said he may sometimes bat the pitcher eighth this season, with the idea a position player in the No. 9 hole could create more RBI opportunities for David Wright, who bats third.
Lagares was drilled in the left shoulder by a John Cornely fastball in the seventh inning and removed from the game, but indicated he won’t miss further action.
Ruben Tejada went 3-for-3 with an RBI in his most productive day of spring training. The struggling shortstop indicated he has begun studying his at-bats from 2012 for clues.
“I watched videos from two years ago and come here and try to do the same thing, early in the morning, so I think it’s helped me a lot,” Tejada said.
Daniel Murphy remained absent from the lineup with a sore right calf. He will not play on Friday, but Collins is expecting him to play Saturday. Murphy has not played since Sunday.