The Orioles today announced that they have placed 2B BRIAN ROBERTS on the 15-day disabled list with a strained abdominal muscle, retroactive to April 10.Roberts was batting .143 (2-14) with one double when he injured himself sliding into second base Friday against the Toronto Blue Jays.

To fill Roberts’ roster spot, the Orioles recalled INF JUSTIN TURNER from Triple-A Norfolk. Turner appeared in 16 spring training games for the Orioles and batted .344 (11-32) with one home run and seven RBI. Turner also saw action in 12 games for Baltimore in 2009 after batting .300 (116-387) with two home runs and 43 RBI in 108 games at Norfolk.

More on Justin Turner

New Met Turner has recognizable face

Justin Turner

#2 2B
New York Mets

2010 STATS

• GM6
• HR0
• RBI0
• R0
• OBP.100
• AVG.000

“They couldn’t get a hold of me this morning. My phone wasn’t on,” Turner said after eventually walking as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning and remaining in the game at second base in the Mets’ 1-0 loss on Friday night to the San Francisco Giants. “I got some grief from Obie down in Buffalo. He wasn’t happy. I missed the original flight they had set up for me.”

Turner caught a later flight out of Buffalo, at 12:50 p.m. EDT. He connected in Detroit and landed in San Francisco at 5:40 p.m. PDT. That allowed the Mets to activate him an hour before the game and demote Nick Evans to Double-A Binghamton.

The Mets needed middle-infield depth with Jose Reyes on the active roster but unavailable because of a right oblique issue.

Jerry Manuel indicated Turner will serve as the backup middle infielder with Reyes out, with Ruben Tejada getting the bulk of the starts at shortstop and Alex Cora getting the starts at second base. The exception: When the Mets face a left-hander, such as Sunday with the Giants throwing southpaw Jonathan Sanchez, the righty-hitting Turner should start at second base.

Turner, 25, hit .297 with three homers and 16 RBIs in 42 games with Buffalo after being claimed off waivers from Baltimore on May 25. He was hitless in nine at-bats with the Orioles earlier this season, and was 3-for-18 with that club in the majors last September.

Turner was drafted as a junior by the Yankees out of Cal State Fullerton in the 29^th round in 2005, but returned to school for his senior year. He then was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the seventh round the following year. He was traded with Ryan Freel to Baltimore for catcher Ramon Hernandez in December 2008.

Former Reds GM Wayne Krivsky, who worked for Baltimore last year, again was influential in Turner’s pro career path. Krivsky is now a Mets special assistant to Omar Minaya.

As for not signing with the Yankees, Turner recalled: “I didn’t talk to them at all until I went out and played in the Cape [Cod League]. I was having a pretty good summer and they came out and made an offer. At that point I was already committed to going back to school. One of my good friends, my roommate, Danny Dorn, who is with the Reds right now [at Triple-A Louisville], he decided he was going to turn down the Devil Rays [as a 23rd round pick that year] and go back to school. It was kind of a collaborative thing. They offered him some money and he turned it down. I had already registered and was set on going back to school. I figured if he could turn it down and go back, it wasn’t that hard for me, too.”

His senior year at Cal State Fullerton, Turner was named co-Big West Conference Player of the Year with Long Beach State’s Evan Longoria. He also set the conference record for most career at-bats, passing the record of former Mets farmhand David Bacani.

By then, Turner already had a College World Series title under his belt. But while that’s his collegiate highlight, Turner is far more known for an unfortunate event during his freshman year playing in Omaha, Neb.

Playing in the College World Series against a Stanford team that included Chris Carter, Turner was struck on the left side of his face with an 87 mph fastball. Unbelievably, Turner’s bigger injury as a result of the blow was a broken ankle, which he suffered while unsuccessfully trying to avoid the pitch.

Turner became so recognizable because of the incident, the redhead actually dyed his hair black for a week at one point back home, trying to avoid attention.

“I kept it for about a week,” Turner said about the black dye job. “My dad threatened to kick me out of the house. I couldn’t keep it for too long.

“I still to this day get it. When I meet people, I hear, ‘You’re the guy who got hit in the face in the World Series.’ I’d be in Fullerton — I’ve worked summer camps — and I’d go into Taco Bell and people would be coming up to me. It was real bad in Fullerton. Obviously people from the area recognize me a little bit more there. Still, in the baseball world to this day, guys when I meet people, they’re like, ‘Are you’re the guy who got hit in the face?’ Usually it’s one of the first things they say to me.”

Count Carter among the exceptions.

“He was the guy?” Carter asked when told he had faced Turner in the College World Series, and that the player whom the Stanford pitcher had beaned was his new teammate. “Small world.”

As for his competence in the field, Turner is most adept at second base, where Manuel placed him in the eighth inning Friday.

“I played most of my games at second base, and came up a shortstop,” Turner said. “I played a lot more short this year than I have in the past as a professional, but I’m pretty comfortable playing both. I played a lot of third too last year with the Orioles. Anywhere they throw me I’m fairly comfortable.”

Turner an option for Mets ’11 roster

Moises Alou, the ex-Mets outfielder and now general manager of the Leones del Escogido in the Dominican winter league, said he has spoken with new Mets manager Terry Collins about definitely considering Turner for a spot on the team.

Alou is impressed with Turner’s contribution to Escogido from what he has seen in the short amount of time the infielder has been playing in the Dominican Republic. Alou is confident Turner can be an everyday player if given the chance.

“Justin has been amazing,” Alou said Thursday night, in the team’s clubhouse after their victory over the Tigres del Licey. “I’ve talked to Terry Collins twice already and I’ve told him you should take a look at this guy. He’s a gamer and you’d like him a lot. I wish every player on this team was like him.”

Turner played only nine games with the Baltimore Orioles and was surprised not to have made the club out of last year’s spring training. The Mets claimed him after the Orioles put him on waivers in May, and Turner was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo. He was home when Bisons manager and Escogido skipper Ken Oberkfell, who is poised to be named Mets bench coach, called and asked if he wanted to come down to the Dominican Republic to play.

He’s been hitting pretty well with Escogido in the 13 games that he’s played so far , hitting .315 (17-for-54) while starting at third base, although second base is his natural position.

“I wasn’t expecting to play any winter ball at all,” Turner said. “I was at home and I got a call from Ken Oberkfell saying that he needed infielders to come down, and asked me if I wanted to come. I took a couple of days and I decided it was in the best interest for me come down and help myself getting ready for spring training.”

Daniel Murphy and Luis Castillo may be the primary competitors for the second base job, with the preference to place Ruben Tejada at Triple-A Buffalo. The Mets also selected Brad Emaus from Toronto in the Rule 5 draft, and he must be offered back to the Blue Jays if he does not make the 25-man roster.

Turner, who is out of options according to one Mets official, also could compete with Luis Hernandez and any potential future signee for a backup middle infielder role. Collins has said he would not feel comfortable using Turner at shortstop for more than one or two games spelling Jose Reyes, but Turner is in the backup middle infielder mix, since any injury to Reyes could result in the call-up of a shortstop more capable of playing the position every day.

“You never know what’s going to happen, who they’re going to go out and sign,” Turner said. “All I can do is get in the best possible shape and go to spring training and be ready, and hopefully take advantage of my opportunities there. Whatever happens, happens, whether it be the second base job or utility job, hopefully I take a good enough at-bats, play well enough defensively, they’ll see me as someone that can help the team win throughout the years.”

Said Oberkfell: “He swings the bat well. He’s been hitting the ball real good. I had him in Buffalo this year, so I know what he can do. I’m sure he’s a very good player. He’s a valuable guy in the organization. I can tell you one thing, he will be ready when he gets to spring training.”

US Presswire, US Presswire, Getty Images
Justin Turner (left), Daniel Murphy (center) and Brad Emaus (right) will compete with Luis Castillo in spring training to become the Mets’ second base, according to Terry Collins.

Luis Castillo

Second Base
New York Mets

Profile

2010 Season Stats

GM	HR	RBI	R	OBP	AVG
86	0	17	28	.337	.235

Terry Collins, during a visit to Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park, L.I., on Wednesday, spoke about the candidates to emerge as second baseman for the Mets to open the season — Luis Castillo, Brad Emaus, Daniel Murphy and Justin Turner.

“Going into camp there’s four legitimate guys,” said Collins, who omitted Ruben Tejada, who is expected to be assigned to Triple-A Buffalo to allow him to develop.

The Mets selected Emaus last Thursday during the Rule 5 draft at the winter meetings from the Toronto Blue Jays for $50,000. He must remain on the major league roster for the entire season in order to become Mets property. Otherwise, Emaus must be placed on waivers. If he clears, he must be offered back to the Jays for $25,000.

The 24-year-old infielder, who played college ball at Tulane, was an 11th-round pick in 2007. He hit .290 with 15 homers and 75 RBIs, and had a .397 on-base percentage and 13 steals in 15 attempts, during the regular season while splitting time between Double-A New Hampshire and Triple-A Las Vegas. He is currently playing for Toros del Este in the Dominican Republic, where he has a .263 average, four homers and 17 RBIs in 114 at-bats.

Emaus played 87 games at third base and 32 games at second base last season, but in 2009 in Double-A he played exclusively second base (132 games)

“Obviously, with [former Blue Jays GM] J.P. [Ricciardi] involved, we had real, real good information on him — what kind of player he was,” Collins said. “We talked to some of the people down in the Dominican. I talked to Obie [new bench coach/Dominican manager Ken Oberkfell] about him, because Obie has seen quite a bit of him. He said he’s a solid player, who looks like he can play a couple of positions. His approach at home plate is something that’s going to fit here. He’s a big pitch-selection kind of guy, a good walk-to-strikeout ratio (81 walks, 69 strikeouts during the regular season). We’re going to give him a shot and see him in that mix at second.”

Murphy suffered a left hamstring strain while playing winter ball in Aguilas in late November. He was hitting .320 with four homers and 22 RBIs in 103 at-bats in the Dominican winter league before suffering the injury, and Murphy has pledged to Sandy Alderson that he will make the Opening Day roster in some capacity, even if it’s a backup at several positions. Murphy, whose 2010 regular season was mostly lost due to a pair of knee injuries, played second base both in the fall instructional league in Fort Myers, Fla., and then in the Dominican Republic before suffering the hamstring injury.

“Work is not an issue with Murph,” Collins said. “He’s worked very, very hard to play second. I saw him play three games down there [in the Dominican Republic]. His range is OK. His hands are fine. It’s just he’s got to be familiar with turning double plays. He’s got to get used to it.”

Castillo is owed $6 million next season, in the final year of a four-year, $25 million deal. If he is beaten out, it’s hard to imagine he will be on the Opening Day roster. The Mets likely would be forced to eat the money and release him since Castillo would not be capable of backing up at other positions and wouldn’t exactly provide power on the bench. Alderson recently admitted Castillo, like Oliver Perez (owed $12 million next season), cannot be traded this winter because there’s no market.

Collins also cautioned not to forget the 26-year-old Turner, who was claimed off waivers from the Orioles in May at the suggestion of Wayne Krivsky. In Triple-A with the Orioles and Mets, Turner hit a combined .316 with 12 homers and 43 RBIs in 396 at-bats, although he was snubbed for a September call-up, despite going 6-for-6 and hitting for the cycle on the final day of Buffalo’s season. Turner currently is playing for Oberkfell with Escogido in the Dominican Republic, where he has a .308 average, one homer and eight RBIs in 65 at-bats.

“People are not mentioning him, but he’s also down in winter ball, having a very, very good winter,” Collins said. “He had a very good finish in Triple-A. So we’ve got to include him in that mix.”

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