Ex-Met Jake Mangum makes most of Citi Field debut with Rays

It took six years for Mets draft pick Jake Mangum to make his debut at Citi Field — only he wasn’t wearing their uniform.

It was a long and winding road that led the 29-year-old Rays rookie to Queens on Friday night.

“When I got drafted and spent four years with the Mets, this is where your dream destination was,” Mangum said after his team won 7-5. “To get here and play a game here — really cool. Great atmosphere, really loud, really crowded and it was good to see some old friends on the other side.”

And Mangum made the most of it when he knocked in a two-run single in the sixth inning to start a six-run rally for Tampa Bay that ultimately ended up winning the game for the road team.

Mangum was drafted first by the Yankees in 2017 and later by the Mets in 2018 and 2019.

He elected to return to Mississippi State each of the first two times before signing in 2019 for $20,000.

Mangum reached Triple-A Syracuse in the Mets system but ultimately was dealt to the Marlins in 2022 before being flipped to the Rays a year later.

Even after the trade, Mangum didn’t see his debut at Citi Field against the team that drafted him as any sort of “revenge.”

“I got way too many friends over there — that I call close friends — to say all that,” said the rookie, who is hitting .302 with a .698 OPS. “I’m still soaking all this up. When I take the field at Fenway, when I take the field at Citi, I’m looking around soaking it in because it’s an absolute privilege to be in a Major League clubhouse.

“Getting traded sometimes is good for the player.”