No Met has come up as frequently against righty pitching than Juan Lagares, and just about no Met has done worse in those situations.

It is one thing to force-feed spinach to a child. There is a long-range benefit to that. But the Mets have to be out of the long-range benefit game now. They are contenders — at least in theory — not rebuilders any longer. Giving Lagares the at-bats for development was for 2013-14.

More troubling is the Mets are giving him these at-bats because they lack better alternatives against righties. That is front office negligence.

Of the 150 players with 200 plate appearances against righties, Lagares ranked 145th with a .582 OPS. And that is with two gift hits versus righties Sunday— a routine groundout that instead hit the umpire for a single and the other a pop fly that Dodger right fielder Yasiel Puig lost in the sun for a triple.

That he has 252 plate appearances against righties is because the lefty-hitting alternatives, to date, have been Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Darrell Ceciliani, who are a combined 15-for-95 (.158) against righties.

That reflects the Mets trying to solve their lineup issues internally. That speaks to arrogance or frugality (homegrown almost always cost less). Either way the refusal to find lefty bats is hurting the offense.

The Mets’ .649 OPS against righties is the majors’ second-worst mark. The lack of quality lefty bats also has left the Mets with one of the game’s worst benches. Their .149 average and .438 OPS from pinch-hitters are both NL worsts. Lefty bats Ceciliani, Nieuwenhuis and Johnny Monell are a combined 4-for-41 as pinch-hitters.

This is another area in which the Mets’ refusal to churn — to aggressively try to upgrade even marginally — has hurt. For example, in early June, the Orioles had a roster crunch and to alleviate it they essentially traded Alejandro De Aza to Boston for cash. The Red Sox acted like a big-market team by taking on $800,000 in salary. The Mets again did not. De Aza has an .850 OPS versus righties this year and .758 for his career. He could have played a corner with Curtis Granderson moving to center against some righties or put the struggling Michael Cuddyer on the bench on occasion or simply been a better bench alternative than the Mets have had all year.

At this point, the Mets are reluctant to bring up their best left-swinging prospect, Michael Conforto, and have indicated no signs they are ready to make a significant deal. But just before the season they tried to improve their bullpen with two minor trades for Alex Torres and Jerry Blevins, and they should be thinking similarly to bolster the offense. Why not begin with a legitimate lefty complement for Lagares, who batted ninth Sunday versus Dodgers righty Mike Bolsinger and, perhaps because of injuries to his elbow or pectoral, just has regressed? Here are some thoughts:

1. Will Venable, Padres: The disappointing Padres have yet to concede and Venable is now the starting center fielder with Wil Myers (wrist) on the DL. Venable, though, is in his walk year. He had a .747 OPS against righties this year and .750 for his career.

2. Gerardo Parra, Brewers: Milwaukee has played better of late, in part because of Parra’s strong leadoff work. But the Brewers are hopelessly behind and Parra is a free agent after the season. He had an .833 OPS versus righties this year and .766 for his career.

3. David Peralta, Diamondbacks: Arizona already cleared some of its outfield logjam by trading Mark Trumbo and Peralta (a one-time pitcher) has emerged as a starter, so Arizona might be more willing to deal Ender Inciarte, another lefty swinger who could help the Mets. Peralta has an .815 OPS against righties this year and .837 for his career.

4. Brock Holt, Red Sox: Holt has played himself from spare part, to valuable utilityman to perhaps core Red Sox moving forward. But he is just the kind of play-anywhere lefty bat/energizer bunny the Mets could use. He has an .809 OPS versus righties this year, but just .713 for his career.

5. Seth Smith, Mariners: His acquisition would necessitate Granderson playing center. Like San Diego, Seattle invested so much in this season it does not yet want to surrender. But that day appears to be nearing and because Smith is owed $6.75 million in 2016 with a $7 million option for 2017 (with a $250,000 buyout), he could be expendable. He has a .767 OPS against righties this year and .832 for his career.

Workload catches up to Verlander, too

Justin Verlander is the Tigers’ CC Sabathia. Like Sabathia, Verlander is a Cy Young winner honored for not just overwhelming stuff but a workhorse fortitude that covers a bunch of work in the postseason, as well.

But, also like Sabathia, that April-through-October buildup has cost him in health and effectiveness the past few years and Verlander actually has a lot more owed to him as he is only in Year 1 of his five-year, $140 million extension. And as troubling as the trend line looked the past two years, this season appears calamitous.

Verlander missed the first 2 ¹/₂ months with a triceps strain and his fourth start came Sunday against Toronto — seven runs in five innings. That brought his ERA to 6.75, and one of the great strikeout pitchers of the era has just 12 against 10 walks in 22 ¹/₃ innings.

Even in the way Tiger officials speak about Verlander, it sounds like Yankees executives talking about Sabathia not being what he was in the past, but being devilishly close to being a highly useful starter.

Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski told me: “We don’t think you will see MVP-season Justin, but he can still be a very good pitcher and that would be really big for us (with Miguel Cabrera out six weeks and the Tigers needing more from its rotation). He is throwing comfortably in the mid-90s, the breaking ball and changeup have been good. He has just been a little inconsistent. We just need him to get more comfortable.”

Reflecting on Miggy trade

Since joining the Tigers in 2008, Miguel Cabrera leads the majors in hits, homers, batting average and OPS. He also was third in games played, underscoring his durability, and he is now on the DL for the first time in his career — out until at least mid-August with a calf strain.

His dominance in this era shows what a great trade the Tigers made to land Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis (who did not work out) from Miami for six minor leaguers, but two in particular — Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin. Neither worked out in South Florida, and both have bounced around a bit.

But all these years later, they are both having good years. Since being put in the bullpen full-time by Bobby Valentine in 2012, Miller steadily has emerged as a relief force.

Maybin showed enough potential in his first year with San Diego in 2011 that the Padres signed him to a five-year, $25 million extension, and he never approached that player for the Padres again. He, in fact, seemed included in the trade that sent Craig Kimbrel and Melvin Upton to San Diego as some contractual counterweight going back to Atlanta. He was due $8 million this year and had a $9 million 2016 option that was sure to be bought out for $1 million.

But the center fielder has played so well with Atlanta (.294, seven homers, 15 steals) that he now becomes either a good trade chip for the Braves or somewhat cost effective option for 2016 at that $9 million.