It took six years for Mets draft decide Jake Mangum to make his debut at Citi Subject — solely he wasn’t carrying their uniform.
It was a protracted and winding street that led the 29-year-old Rays rookie to Queens on Friday evening.
“When I got drafted and spent four years with the Mets, this is where your dream destination was,” Mangum stated after his workforce gained 7-5. “To get here and play a game here — really cool. Great atmosphere, really loud, really crowded and it was good to see some old friends on the other side.”
And Mangum made probably the most of it when he knocked in a two-run single within the sixth inning to begin a six-run rally for Tampa Bay that in the end ended up successful the sport for the street workforce.
Mangum was drafted first by the Yankees in 2017 and later by the Mets in 2018 and 2019.
He elected to return to Mississippi State every of the primary two instances earlier than signing in 2019 for $20,000.
Mangum reached Triple-A Syracuse within the Mets system however in the end was dealt to the Marlins in 2022 earlier than being flipped to the Rays a 12 months later.
Even after the commerce, Mangum didn’t see his debut at Citi Subject in opposition to the workforce that drafted him as any kind of “revenge.”
“I got way too many friends over there — that I call close friends — to say all that,” stated the rookie, who’s hitting .302 with a .698 OPS. “I’m nonetheless soaking all this up. Once I take the sphere at Fenway, once I take the sphere at Citi, I’m wanting round soaking it in as a result of it’s an absolute privilege to be in a Main League clubhouse.
“Getting traded sometimes is good for the player.”
