The Mets have posted their lineup for the Grapefruit League* matchup with the Braves today, and Daniel Murphy is starting at third base. Obviously it’s way too early in the spring to read anything into the lineups themselves, but I’d guess the Mets are probably trying to get him as many reps in the infield as possible.

Murphy hasn’t played third base in a Major or Minor League game since 2008. He has a handful of Minor League and winter-ball appearances at second. This is probably something fans should keep in mind if Murphy looks a bit awkward out there today and, hell, for the length of Spring Training.

I didn’t see yesterday’s game, but I asked Murphy how he felt at second and he said, essentially, that he’s coming along. I asked him if camp was different as a (primarily) middle infielder, and he said, “It’s still catching and throwing, taking ground balls.”

With practice, people can improve at just about everything. Murphy, from what I’ve seen and heard, practices as hard as anyone. It stands to reason that he’ll get better as he does. It seems like a lot of fans have determined already that there’s no chance he’ll ever be able to handle second — especially since, as Mike Salfino has pointed out, very few players have successfully moved from first base to second.

But these games don’t count, and Murph is going to be out there so he can have every opportunity to become a passable Major League infielder in time for the ones that do.

“I want to be out there every day, if they’ll let me,” Murphy said.

And remember that the eyes can deceive; just because a guy looks uncomfortable or unwieldy bending over for a grounder or turning a double play doesn’t necessarily mean he’s fielding his position less effectively than a guy who looks slick. In a not-large-enough sample, the stats loved Murphy at first. He said he wasn’t too familiar with the defensive stats, but when I suggested that there’s some disconnect between the way his defense is perceived and the way it was measured in 2009, he said:

“Well, I’m not very aesthetically pleasing out there. I’ll be the first to admit: I’m not graceful to the eye.”

That’s probably not changing anytime soon. But again: Teams win games by outscoring their opponents, and there are a lot of ways to do that. The Mets don’t exactly have Cirque du Soleil acrobats in camp to save 20 runs from second base, so we might witness some awkwardness and growing pains for a while.

*- Is this a good time to buy grapefruit in Florida? Grapefruit is delicious, though it doesn’t taste anything like grape. Also: We need more grapefruit-flavored stuff. I <3 Fresca.