Mets may play Conforto in center, Cespedes in left

6:16 PM ET

CHICAGO — Michael Conforto rejoined the New York Mets on Monday after a three-week stint in the minors. He may have returned as the team’s primary center fielder.

With Yoenis Cespedes expressing a desire to solely play left field for the remainder of the season, manager Terry Collins plans to have Conforto begin taking fly balls in center field.

Collins said it makes sense to restrict Cespedes to left field because that is less taxing on his legs than center field. And keeping Cespedes’ bat in the lineup is the priority. Cespedes returned to the starting lineup on Sunday after an eight-day absence while resting a strained right quadriceps muscle.

“We’re taxing his body pretty heavily by putting him in center field,” Collins said. “And we need him to hit. We need him to hit, and hit a lot. I just think if he’s in left field where he’s comfortable, and there’s not so much emphasis on the defensive side, that he’ll go back and do what we hope he can do — and that’s be a big production guy.”

Conforto said he worked out in center field while at Oregon State, although he appeared in no games at that position in college. He exclusively had played left field as a professional ballplayer until this month, when he started four games in right field with Triple-A Las Vegas.

Collins had planned for Conforto to begin seeing action in center field with the Pacific Coast League club on Monday, but general manager …

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