PORT ST. LUCIE — Adrian Gonzalez arrived to spring training expecting something of a competition for the Mets first-base job, but may have already won it by default.
As Dominic Smith remains sidelined by a quadriceps injury that has limited him to one appearance this spring, with fewer than two weeks of exhibition games remaining, the 35-year-old Gonzalez is preparing to begin the season at first base to resurrect a career that was in peril last year because of back problems.
Though Gonzalez is hardly reinforcing the idea he can be a productive piece in the Mets lineup — he is hitting .