Mets considering using Conforto in center field

CHICAGO — No sooner had Michael Conforto returned to the big leagues on Monday than manager Terry Collins approached him, and began talking about the possibility of playing a foreign position.

Welcome back, Michael.

Though they signed Yoenis Cespedes to a three-year, $75-million deal in large part because of his ability to play center, the Mets are suddenly wary of him doing so on a balky right leg that has bothered him since before the All-Star break. Cespedes on Sunday publicly discussed his reticence to play center. And so without any ideal options on the roster, the coaching staff is looking to Conforto.

“Why not?” Collins said.

The counterargument begins with Conforto’s lack of experience in center — he has not played the position even sporadically since college, he said — and overall lack of defensive chops. But Conforto has outperformed most defensive expectations of him up to this point in his career, and, at age 23, boasts by far the youngest legs of any Mets outfielder. So the team on Monday began giving him fly balls in center, in the hopes that he might play the …

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