Mets put Tejada on DL, call up Quintanilla

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Paul J. Bereswill

Ruben Tejada after injuring his quad last night.

Ruben Tejada will be sidelined for at least a couple of weeks, as the Mets placed their shortstop on the 15-day DL this morning with a strained right quad.

Now the question is whether the struggling Tejada will still be the starter when he returns.

Omar Quintanilla was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas. He’ll presumably be the regular shortstop going forward, although the Mets can also use Justin Turner there at times. The 31-year-old Quintanilla played 29 games for the Mets last season, hitting .257 with a .350 on-base percentage and a .721 OPS. He was hitting .333 with a .419 OBP and a .903 OPS for Vegas.

Along with Ike Davis, Tejada was a Triple-A candidate due to his struggles this season. He won’t be demoted for now, but it will be interesting to see if Tejada will be the starting shortstop for the Mets when he returns from the DL, especially if Quintanilla performs well in his absence.