Jose Iglesias was more emotional about the opportunity to play in his 1,097th career MLB game than he was about his first.
Upon learning late Thursday night that he was getting called up from Triple-A by the Mets, the 34-year-old infielder thought back to when he was the top prospect in the Red Sox organization and about to make his major-league debut in September 2011.
“They’re both special, right?” Iglesias said. “But this one has a lot more meaning for me. It’s been more difficult in terms of individual challenges for me to come up this way. I feel very proud of myself, of the work that I’m doing, and the information I’m getting from this great staff that we have. I won’t take it for granted.”
Iglesias started at second base Friday night against the Diamondbacks at Citi Field in his first MLB game in 605 days.
The Mets are his fourth organization since then — and there was no guarantee that he ever would make it back out of the minors.
“I feel good enough to play at any level,” Iglesias said. “It’s been tough for me and my family, but it’s totally in the past now. I feel like a rookie right now.”
The Mets have been playing without a backup middle infielder since parting ways with Joey Wendle on May 15.
Iglesias will spell struggling left-handed hitter Jeff McNeil at second base and Mark Vientos at third base (after Brett Baty was sent to Triple-A).
“Credit to him,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “The willingness to make adjustments at that stage of his career says a lot about him.”
Mendoza said “impacting the baseball” was an area that Iglesias needed to improve in the analytics age. He is a slick-fielding career .279 hitter with a .382 slugging percentage.
“He got into bat-speed training at the end of spring training,” Mendoza said. “Here’s a guy who’s played in the big-leagues for (11) years and said, ‘Hey, I need to hit the ball harder. What do I need to do?’ He put himself in a position where it was an easier decision for us to call him up.”
The Mets did not consider calling up highly regarded prospect Luisangel Acuna, Mendoza said.
“Elite hands,” versatility and “instincts” are Iglesias’ strengths.
“Our manager at Triple-A called me … and said, ‘I’ve got great news for you,’ ” Iglesias said. “It took me a while to say something. I was very emotional at the time.”
Iglesias once was a centerpiece in a three-way trade that sent ace Jake Peavy to the Red Sox.
A lot has happened since then, including his secondary career making music and the possibility that his walk-up music Friday would be a self-produced song.
“All I have is right now, and I’m extremely happy about it. I get to play a big-league game tonight,” Iglesias said. “It’s a big deal for me. Nothing but very humble about it. I’ve been over a decade in The Show, and it’s not enough to [stop] getting better.”
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