LAS VEGAS — Thanks to whoever came up with the concept of time zones, the mood in the Cashman Field home clubhouse changed about an hour before they even heard the national anthem.
For the Mets, this transformed from Getaway Day to a Showcase Showdown. The news of Jon Niese’s injury departure three time zones away in Jupiter added angst to what had been a care-free work shift and turned the spotlight onto Jenrry Mejia — even if he didn’t know it.
And Mejia, who made his major-league debut all the way back when Jerry Manuel managed the Mets yet still is only 24, looked not quite ready for prime time.
The right-hander, an obvious candidate to replace Niese in the starting rotation if Niese must start the season on the disabled list, allowed three runs, four hits and two walks while hitting a batter in 2 ¹/₃ innings as the Mets fell to the Cubs, 6-3, to wrap up their two-game series.
“The command wasn’t real good today. That’s something that, when he pitched for us last year, was one of his strengths,” manager Terry Collins said. “His stuff was real good. He’s still got good stuff. We’ll run him out there in five days and see how he does.”
Mejia said he didn’t learn about Niese’s situation until he had finished pitching.
“The only thing I have to worry about is my [performance],” he said.
While Mejia did get hurt by second baseman Anthony Seratelli’s throwing error on George Kotteras’ infield single in the first, he also benefited from the strong defense of center fielder Juan Lagares, who made a shoestring catch of Chris Coghlan’s flare to end the first and threw out Darwin Barney at home off Ryan Kalish’s single to conclude the second. Lagares displayed why he deserves playing time in center field. Of course, he also went 0-for-4 at the plate.
Mejia has been engaged with veterans Daisuke Matsuzaka and John Lannan in a competition for the fifth starter’s job, a battle clearly led by Matsuzaka. Before Niese’s misfortune, Collins told The Post the losers of that derby would likely wind up in the Mets’ bullpen rather than as starters for Triple-A Las Vegas.
If Niese starts the season on the disabled list, however, then the Mets would need two from among Matsuzaka, Mejia and Lannan for their starting rotation. Mejia possesses more upside than Lannan, who pitched poorly (5.33 ERA) in 14 starts for the Phillies last year and spent most of 2012 with Washington’s Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse.
The Mets’ split squad out here was scheduled to land at Palm Beach International Airport early Monday, and Collins planned to sleep on his office couch at Tradition Field before returning to action for the Mets’ game against the Marlins in Jupiter. There’s a home game against the Tigers Tuesday and a day off Wednesday, and then it’ll be “nut-crunching time,” Collins said.
“Really time to tighten stuff up,” he said. “All the plays. All the drills. There’ll be some cuts this week. Time to make some big decisions.”
The first-base battle between Ike Davis and Lucas Duda will finally take place in earnest, assuming neither experiences any more injury setbacks, and the Mets hope Ruben Tejada will begin to look less awful than he has so far this spring. After all, the Mets appear as determined to start the season with Tejada at shortstop as “Seinfeld’s” George Costanza was to prove to the Rosses he owned a house in the Hamptons.
The bullpen still needs to take shape — Niese’s status will impact that — and the Mets have to decide whether Lagares (in center field) or Eric Young Jr. (in left field, with Chris Young in center) will get the bulk of the outfield starts alongside Curtis Granderson in right field. And Collins noted, “We’ve got to get Travis [d’Arnaud] swinging the bat,” as the rookie catcher has four hits and two walks in 29 spring-training plate appearances.
For a club that aspires to win 90 games, the Mets face roughly 99 problems. Sunday reminded them that the adage “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” unfortunately doesn’t apply to baseball teams.