PHILADELPHIA — Let the shuffling atop the lineup begin.
Juan Lagares’ addition to the Mets’ disabled list on Monday has left manager Terry Collins pondering new options in the leadoff spot, none of which are obvious fits.
Matt den Dekker got the first crack at the spot on Monday and finished 1-for-5 in the Mets’ 11-2 victory over the Phillies. But Collins acknowledged he may have to experiment further.
Ruben Tejada, Chris Young and Daniel Murphy all have some degree of experience in the leadoff spot and Bobby Abreu fits the profile of a No. 1 hitter, based on his patient plate approach.
Lagares will miss at least two weeks, but Collins almost expects his absence to extend longer after an MRI exam revealed the outfielder has a right intercostal strain.
The Mets’ other true leadoff hitter, Eric Young Jr., is on the disabled list with a strained right hamstring. He is expected to begin running on Tuesday.
Lagares is batting .288 with two homers and 18 RBIs and may have been guilty of pushing too hard to play Sunday, a day after he was removed from the starting lineup because of soreness in his side.
“I don’t think you can ever put a date on the intercostal strains and the tears,” Collins said. “That’s exactly what I told him [Sunday] morning when he said he was OK. I said, ‘You’ve got to be honest, because these things, if it gets worse, it’s not two weeks, it could be four,’ but we’ll have to wait and see.”
In his Mets debut, lefty reliever Dana Eveland faced two batters in the eighth, retiring Chase Utley before striking out Ryan Howard.
“I got thrown right into the fire,” said Eveland, who pitched last season in Korea.
The 30-year-old Eveland had last appeared in the big leagues with the Orioles in 2012. He was asked how he landed with the Mets.
“We begged everybody, and the Mets were nice enough to say yes,” he said.
The Mets remained a position player short, keeping an extra bullpen arm on the roster in the aftermath of playing 39 innings in three days. Collins said a determination might be made Tuesday on when the Mets will return to full strength on the bench.