Phillip Evans makes Opening Day roster through defensive versatility

Phillip Evans used to identify as a shortstop because he was a shortstop, from his youth ball days to when he starred at his Southern California high school to early in his minor-league career with the Mets. It was all he knew.

But when he was with High-A St. Lucie in 2014, he strained his knee and a player with more prospect status was promoted to play short. Evans returned three weeks later and faced a decision: Would he rather play third base or second?

All of a sudden, Evans wasn’t just a shortstop anymore. It changed his career and, in a winding way, brought him to where he was Thursday: a New York Met on Opening Day, making the team as a six-position utility man.

“It was kind of, in my head, a little bit of an ego thing,” Evans said. “I was a shortstop my whole life and now I’m moving positions. Looking back, I’m pretty grateful that all happened. Everyone has different roads to get here and I think mine is pretty unique.”

Evans’ locker, even on the first day of the season, was jam-packed with equipment, including six gloves. He has one for each of his six positions: first base, second, third, shortstop, leftfield and catcher.

Gavin Cecchini, a first-round draft pick, bumped Evans, a 15th-rounder, from shortstop in 2014. Given the choice of second or third, Evans first picked third, but played both and spotted Cecchini at shortstop.

And so Evans’ identity changed. He was utility infielder.

That remained the case until last season, when he added leftfield to his repertoire. He was fresh off winning the Eastern League batting title — Evans hit .335 for Double-A Binghamton in 2016 — and was sharing playing time with Matt Reynolds. Learning another position, again, allowed Evans to keep getting at-bats.

His status as a defensive journeyman went next-level in January. Glenn Sherlock, the Mets’ catching coach, called Evans to tell him his name came up during a meeting of team decision-makers. What did Evans think of learning how to catch, probably for a just-in-case scenario?

Evans — 25 years old with only 19 games in the majors and weeks removed from being taken off the 40-man roster — didn’t hesitate.

“You have to be able to get out of your comfort zone,” Evans said. “I was like, ‘Let’s go, baby.’ I was ready.

“I got off the phone, turned on the [pitching] machine, put in 100 baseballs, got a [former coach’s son’s] catcher’s glove and got in there and caught 100 balls every day.”

Evans, a non-roster invitee, reported to spring training with pitchers and catchers and through the preseason spent several hours daily learning the new position, working with Sherlock, catching bullpen sessions and going to the backfields for live minor-league batting practice before getting into a Grapefruit League game behind the plate.

Days into the spring, Evans played his sixth position. First base, he said, was no big deal after learning how to be a catcher.

“They threw a first baseman’s glove at me and told me to go take some ground balls,” Evans said. “So I did.”

Evans had a strong showing in Grapefruit League games with a .261/.382/.457 slash line, after hitting .303/.395/.364 in his 19 big-league games last season, and the Mets picked him as a fifth man off the bench. It’s not clear how long he’ll stay with Michael Conforto and Jason Vargas slated to return in the next week or two, but for now Evans is a self-made major-leaguer with the half-dozen gloves to prove it.

His identity now? It’s no longer rooted in being a shortstop or even an infielder. Evans thinks of himself as a hitter and as a New York Met.

“I’ve been on both sides of the injury bug, getting my spot taken and taking somebody else’s spot. It’s part of the game,” Evans said. “As I got older, playing more positions gave me more opportunities. I just rolled with it. I like it a lot more now.”