Worth noting: With last week’s promotion of Rylan Sandoval to Triple-A Las Vegas, the Mets were forced to alter their lineup in order to fill his vacancy at first base. Aderlin Rodriguez, perhaps the most versatile player on the roster with his ability to play both corner infield spots and the outfield, started all three games at first base during St. Lucie’s series at Charlotte. He is expected to patrol first for now, while Robbie Shields takes his place at the hot corner. Shields — the oldest position player on the roster (25) — had appeared in just three games since May 19th before the series against Charlotte. He went 1-for-10 with a double during the three-game set to drop his batting average to .267 on the year.

Surging in the batter’s box: Outfielder Travis Taijeron. After hitting a lowly .228 with just one home run during the first month of the season, Taijeron has served as the club’s best player since then and appears to be pushing for a promotion — at least in the batting order. Still nestled in the bottom third of the lineup, Taijeron posted a remarkable .500/.571/1.333 slash line over the past week and drilled four home runs, including two in the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader against the Stone Crabs. He recorded a hit in all but five of his 25 games played during May, finishing with a .348 average and .415 on-base percentage. The 24-year-old left fielder now has 20 doubles, eight homers and 26 RBI in 52 games this season.

Surging on the mound: Relief pitcher Jim Fuller. Any of the Mets’ starters could fill this spot, but Fuller has been exceptional in long relief this season. The left-hander is considered a little old for Single-A — he turned 26 last Saturday — but he owns a glistening 0.99 ERA over 13 games. In his past 10 appearances (21 innings), Fuller, selected in the 21st round of the 2008 MLB Draft, has permitted three earned runs (four total) while averaging a strikeout per inning and holding opponents to a .167 batting average.

Number to remember: 5. Maintaining their slugging ways, the Mets have gone deep in each of their past five games, including all three outings at Charlotte. Taijeron has fueled the outburst with four homers in four games, and Charley Thurber homered in back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday. Dustin Lawley started the streak with his solo blast against Jupiter last Wednesday. St. Lucie entered play Monday ranked fourth in the Florida State League with 37 total home runs. Power-driven Fort Myers leads the league with 51 homers.