Rubén Tejada

He was the youngest position player on the Mets Opening Day roster since Tim Foli in 1971.

Rubén Darío Tejada (born October 27, 1989) is a Panamanian professional baseball shortstop for the Leones de Yucatán of the Mexican League.

He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, and Baltimore Orioles.

Tejada was born in Santiago de Veraguas in western Panama to Rubén Sr., a mechanic, and Donaji Tejada, a secretary.

Tejada also has a younger brother, Ernie.

Tejada grew up mere feet away from Omar Torrijos Herrera Stadium where his father was also a pitcher for Los Indios de Veraguas.

Growing up, Tejada's favorite baseball players were shortstops Derek Jeter and Omar Vizquel.

In 2001, Tejada played for the Santiago de Veraguas Little League team which represented the Latin American region at the Little League World Series.

In 2003, at 13 years old, Tejada began playing for Los Indios de Veraguas’ junior team as a pitcher.

Tejada signed with the Mets as an international free agent in 2006.

He debuted in professional baseball in 2007.

He has played for the Gulf Coast Mets, Venezuela Mets, St. Lucie Mets and Binghamton Mets.

He also played for the Surprise Rafters of the Arizona Fall League.

Tejada was invited to spring training with the Mets in 2010.

On April 7, 2010 he made his major league debut and went 0-for-2 with a HBP in 3 plate appearances.

On April 9, 2010 he recorded his first major league hit off the Washington Nationals' Tyler Walker.

On June 4, 2010 the Mets re-called Tejada to replace Luis Castillo.

With the activation of Luis Castillo from the DL on July 19, 2010, the Mets optioned Tejada to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons.

He was re-called on August 7, after Alex Cora was released and Jesús Feliciano was demoted to Triple A Buffalo Bisons.

On September 5, 2010 in the seventh inning Tejada hit his first major league home run off Cubs pitcher Marcos Mateo on the first pitch.

For the season, he batted .213/.305/.282.

On May 17, 2011 Tejada was called up to play second base, thus moving Justin Turner to third base for the injured David Wright.

He ended the season with a .284 batting average in 328 at-bats.

Once Jose Reyes signed with the Miami Marlins, Rubén Tejada became the New York Mets starting shortstop for the 2012 season.

On August 1, 2012, Tejada hit his second home run in the majors against Matt Cain of the Giants, his first home run since September 5, 2010.

Tejada was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right quad and called up shortstop Omar Quintanilla from the Mets triple-A affiliate Las Vegas 51s to take his spot on the roster.

After Quintanilla's unexpected performance however, the Mets optioned Tejada to Las Vegas.

For the season, he batted .202/.259/.260.

On October 10, 2015, during the second game of the 2015 National League Division Series, Chase Utley slid into and took out Tejada in an attempt to break up what might have been an inning-ending double play, fracturing Tejada's right fibula in the collision.

Utley was ruled safe by the umpires after a video review despite never actually touching the base.

The Dodgers, who were losing 2-1 at the time of the incident, rallied to win the game 5-2.

Major League Baseball suspended Utley for two games for his conduct "in violation of Official Baseball Rule 5.09 (a) (13), which is designed to protect fielders from precisely this type of rolling block that occurs away from the base."

Utley appealed the suspension and remained active for the rest of the Dodgers post-season games.

MLB subsequently dropped Utley's suspension on March 6, 2016, with Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre stating "There wasn't anything clear-cut to say that play violated a rule."

In 2016, Tejada said he hadn't spoken with Utley, though Utley had sent him several gifts.

Tejada said what bothers him most about Utley's hit was that it came from a fellow middle infielder.

"I would never do that to another infielder. That is the position I play, and I would never want to hurt another player that plays that position like that. It would have been different if some other position player, a corner infielder or an outfielder had done that to me, but he is an middle infielder, he should know better."

On March 15, 2016, the Mets placed Tejada on waivers, and released him the next day after clearing waivers.

On March 19, 2016, Tejada signed a one-year contract worth $1.5 million with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Expected to fill in for the injured Jhonny Peralta at shortstop, Tejada himself injured his quad in the final pre-season game, landing on the disabled list to begin the season.