Hello again Mets fans, welcome on back! Spring training is rocking and rolling, and pretty soon the practice gloves will be coming off, and some Grapefruit League games will be underway. And as the snowflakes fly on this wintry Thursday, as do the rumors down in Port St. Lucie. Rumors regarding Jose Reyes temporarily claiming the #3 slot in the batting order until Carlos Beltran comes back. As far as these particular rumors go, I’ve only one word…huh?
Batting orders matter. They shouldn’t be tinkered with in such drastic ways when the methods don’t make any sense. The hitters a ballclub needs to have on base and wreak havoc once aboard need to be at the top of that lineup. Jose Reyes is a nightmare for opposing pitchers, and as a fan I love to see the opposing pitcher worry so much about Reyes on base and get all rattled. It’s something I missed severely last season. The top 2 spots in the order need to be your table setters, they need to be guys who will get on base regularly, giving the power guys in the middle of the lineup a chance to drive in as many RBI’s as he possibly can. And the guy at the very top of the lineup needs to be the fastest on base man you’ve got.
So why may I ask, would Jerry Manuel even consider placing Jose Reyes in the #3 spot? The greatest strength Reyes has got going for him would undoubtedly be his legs. Reyes can outrun nearly any guy in the big leagues. Most teams would kill to have him sitting atop their batting order. He’s nearly irreplaceable up there. Why would we even consider moving him elsewhere, out of the place in the lineup where he’s most dangerous? It’s not like he hasn’t seen success from the top of the batting order. He’s gotten on base, he’s stolen bases, he’s advanced on sacrifices, he is an ideal leadoff man. Not an ideal #3 guy.
In the past the Mets have had an array of different people hitting third. Recent guys in the past decade plus to appear there are John Olerud, Edgardo Alfonzo, Mike Piazza, Mo Vaughn, and Carlos Beltran to name a few, all very different hitters. However none of them possess the gift of speed the way Reyes does. I see the heart of the lineup filled with our best 3 RBI guys, and those guys are probably – in no particular order here – David Wright, Jason Bay, and just until Beltran is back, Jeff Francoeur. These guys are the most likely candidates to get that ribby in, the guys who’ll do the most damage upon the scoreboard. Reyes may have that ability too, his RBI numbers are certainly low due to him typically leading off, but with the speed he’s been blessed with, he belongs in the #1 hole, racking up steals not RBI’s. No question about it.
And also let’s not forget, he only played in 36 games last year. He’s making a big time return to a ballclub that suffered immensely without him. As Reyes goes, so do the Mets. That phrase has a ton of truth in it. Due to this, I think Reyes needs to be accommodated into a role he’s used to. Putting him #3 in the order is foreign to him. He needs to ease back into the routine of Major League Baseball; he needs to lead this team since there’s so much riding on him after being out nearly all last year. Don’t put him in a strange situation where his greatest talent isn’t as necessary. Reyes is a leadoff man, one of the best in the bigs when healthy. Keep the speedster where he belongs Jerry. Especially since the axe may fall upon your head if the team starts out sluggish and accumulates loss after loss due to a nonfunctional batting order!
Where do you guys stand on this issue? Do you think Reyes shouldn’t hit third while Beltran is out of action? Or should the Mets experiment a little and try him in the 3 hole, despite the glaring need for this Mets club to get off to a quick start? Reveal what you’d do in the comment section below, and as always my dear friends, thanks for stopping on by!
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