T.J. Rivera Gets Versatile

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla.—T.J. Rivera is willing to wear any glove in his bid to break camp on the big league roster.

The Pacific Coast League batting champion last year at Triple-A Las Vegas already has shown he can handle second base and third base. This spring he is also giving first base a shot and looking to increase his reps in the outfield, where he has played sparingly.

“I am doing it just to kind of help my value,” Rivera said.

With David Wright likely headed to the disabled list with to a right shoulder impingement, the 28-year-old Rivera could become the primary backup to Jose Reyes at third base while dabbling at other positions.

Rivera, a native of the Bronx, N.Y., who attended Troy and signed with the Mets as a nondrafted free agent in 2011, hit .333/.345/.476 in 33 games with the Mets last year. He made his major league debut in August and then started at second base against Giants ace Madison Bumgarner in the National League Wild Card Game. Rivera’s double in the 3-0 defeat was the Mets’ only extra-base hit.

Rivera hit .353 in the PCL to edge teammate Brandon Nimmo for the batting title.

“To get an award like that is pretty cool,” Rivera said, “but that is not a player’s ultimate goal.”

The big question is whether the free-swinging Rivera, who represented Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic, can sustain success at the major league level. Last year he swung at 54.8 percent of all pitches, the fourth-highest average among NL batters.

And yet, the Mets want Rivera to maintain the approach that got him to the big leagues.

“I don’t want (Rivera) to change a lot,” Mets manager Terry Collins said, “because you change a little bit of the aggressiveness sometimes and he all of a sudden starts to struggle.

“That’s not what we want.”

NEW YORK MINUTES

• Righthander Marcos Molina caught the attention of team officials early in spring training. The 22-year-old missed last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery but returned for the Arizona Fall League.

• The Mets signed 23-year-old shortstop Danny Hoy to a minor league contract. He helped lead Princeton to the Ivy League title last year before playing four games in the independent Frontier League.

— Mike Puma covers the Mets for the New York Post