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This one has us hoping Chase Utley isn’t playing in the Atlantic League anytime soon.
Ruben Tejada, the slick fielding starting shortstop for the Mets team that reached the World Series in 2015, is back in professional baseball and playing locally for the Long Island Ducks. A native of Santiago, Panama, Tejada hit .333 and dazzled in the field for Panama during the World Baseball Classic in March.
So far with the Ducks, Tejada has played started at shortstop and third base and is hitless in six at bats over two games. He has two runs scored.
During his sixth season with New York, the infielder infamously had his leg broken in Game 2 of the 2015 divisional playoffs, when Utley of the Dodgers purposefully slid into Tejada, then just 25, at second base to break up a double-play. Tejada didn’t play the remainder of the playoffs and Utley was never penalized by Major League Baseball.
Tejada signed as a free agent with St. Louis just prior to the 2016 season, but was released by the Cardinals just months later after appearing in only eight games. He was picked up by San Fransisco that summer, but played sparingly.
Tejada played in 41 games with Baltimore in 2017, but has since struggled in his attempt to land on a major league roster. In 2019, he played in six games with the Mets after playing well that season in the minor leagues.
Highly valued for his fielding, Tejada appeared in 663 MLB games. He recorded 530 hits and batted a mediocre .250.
Interestingly, Tejada’s activation with the Ducks comes just days after Daniel Murphy, Tejeda’s teammate with the Mets in 2015, left the Ducks to sign with the Los Angeles Angels. Murphy’s Long Island Ducks contract was bought out by the Angels organization.
Murphy, 38, who came out of retirement this off-season to sign with the Ducks, reported to the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate, the Salt Lake Bees.
Here’s a shot of a great play Tejada — still relatively young at 33 — made during a World Baseball Classic game this March.
Top photo: New York Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada goes over the top of Los Angeles Dodgers’ Chase Utley, who broke up a double play during the seventh inning in Game 2 of baseball’s National League Division Series, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015, in Los Angeles. Tejada left the game with a broken leg. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Top photo inset: Ruben Tejada headshot. (Facebook/Long Island Ducks)
