Taylor, now the Mets’ regular center fielder with Jose Siri injured, is batting .188/.224/.266 in 67 plate appearances, and he’s not quite playing Siri-level defense in the process. It’s hard to see the Mets really getting away with using Jeff McNeil out there, but maybe they’ll instead start Luisangel Acuña some in center with McNeil back Friday. Acuña has yet to play the position in the majors, but he did start 31 games there in Triple-A last year.

Taylor will get a break after starting the first two games. Jose Siri is getting the start against Spencer Arrighetti and the Houston bullpen.

The Mets announced those operations for Taylor on Friday, and also said that the average timeline for return for both operations was around two months. That should put the outfielder back in plenty of time for spring training, but obviously a complication with either injury could see that timeline change.

For a moment, it looked like Taylor was going to be the hero of this game. His eighth inning homer off Cristopher Sánchez was the first blow in this pitchers duel between Sánchez and David Peterson. The Mets would eventually blow it, but that’s not on Taylor. He’s been a solid player for the Mets in a rotational role and could play a bit more frequently this week after Starling Marte was hit on his forearm by a pitch Saturday.