#FreeLagares: The Gist of the Situation

If you're a Mets fan on Twitter, or you follow at least one, you may have noticed that the hashtag "FreeLagares" has been trending nationally since this afternoon. The trend started when Terry Collins decided not to start young phenom Juan Lagares and instead put 40-year-old Bobby Abreu in the outfield for tonight's game in Washington. This will be the fourth time in the last five games that Lagares will sit. 

So far this season he's batting .296 (the best of any Mets outfielder) and his glove and arm have both been stellar as usual. He's by far the best-fielding and best-hitting outfielder on the club; the only reason Collins has given to explain the decision is Lagares' cold bat in this past series against the Yankees.

Collins apparently sees 4 sub-par games as a good reason to bench the Mets' most promising young position player. With those sub-par games he's still one of the hottest Mets hitters this season and for sure one of the Mets with the greatest potential. Kevin Burkhardt of SNY has hinted at the existence of some promise that Chris Young would get playing time this season, but that still doesn't explain why Abreu--who's hitting .217 this season and can't run at all--would get the nod over Lagares.

Though it's not the first time, many Mets fans have taken to Twitter calling for Collins' firing, and if he continues to make these incomprehensible decisions I will have to join that group. The only way to ensure Lagares' continued development into a star and franchise player is to give him the playing time he deserves.