Sandman
06-10-2003, 11:53 AM
ARLINGTON -- The air of expectation surrounding Jose Reyes is great.
His coming has been foretold for the better part of two seasons by every baseball pundit and publication, many of which predicted that the youngster will quickly cement himself atop the Mets batting order and stay there for the next decade or two. So naturally, there will be some excitement surrounding the arrival of the wunderkind Tuesday night when the Mets kick off a six-game road trip against the Rangers at The Ballpark in Arlington.
Reyes, who will turn 20 on Wednesday, had his contract purchased and was placed on New York's 40-man roster when shortstop Rey Sanchez went back on the disabled list with a strained left thumb. This is Sanchez's second turn on the DL because of the thumb and with the Mets in last place in the National League East, it seemed like the time to give Reyes his first taste of life in the Major Leagues.
But Reyes' stay atop the Mets' batting order, and even his place in the lineup, only appears to be a short-term fix until Sanchez's expected return next weekend. If New York is intent on keeping Reyes around for good, it's not a decision it is making public. General manager Steve Phillips has said all season that Reyes' arrival in the Major Leagues would come only when his maturation and the club's needs coincided. He downplayed the idea Tuesday that Reyes is coming to the big leagues to stay.
"We expect Jose's stay with the Major League club to be of short-term duration," Phillips said. "With Rey going on the disabled list, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity for Jose to get his first big league experience. We expect to Jose to go back to [Triple-A] Norfolk when Rey returns."
Reyes was batting .269, modest compared to the .290 career average he had in his three previous minor league seasons. But he has had leg problems dating back to January -- he strained a left quadriceps muscle playing winter ball -- that contributed to his slow start in Spring Training. Reyes also had right hamstring problems that limited him for a time at Norfolk.
Reyes, a wispy 6-footer who checks in at 160 pounds, relies mostly on his legs. He has a knack for turning singles into doubles and doubles in triples. He has four triples in 160 at-bats this season after leading all of the minor leagues last year with 19. He also has four doubles and 13 RBIs to go along with his International League-leading 26 stolen bases.
Sanchez, meanwhile, was on the disabled list from May 10-27 with the same injury. He raised his average from .196 to .225 by going 10-for-32 with three RBIs since returning. But his thumb was never quite healed and began acting up last week. He went 0-for-8 in a doubleheader loss to Milwaukee on Thursday and didn't play over the weekend against Seattle. His stay on the DL is retroactive to June 6.
His coming has been foretold for the better part of two seasons by every baseball pundit and publication, many of which predicted that the youngster will quickly cement himself atop the Mets batting order and stay there for the next decade or two. So naturally, there will be some excitement surrounding the arrival of the wunderkind Tuesday night when the Mets kick off a six-game road trip against the Rangers at The Ballpark in Arlington.
Reyes, who will turn 20 on Wednesday, had his contract purchased and was placed on New York's 40-man roster when shortstop Rey Sanchez went back on the disabled list with a strained left thumb. This is Sanchez's second turn on the DL because of the thumb and with the Mets in last place in the National League East, it seemed like the time to give Reyes his first taste of life in the Major Leagues.
But Reyes' stay atop the Mets' batting order, and even his place in the lineup, only appears to be a short-term fix until Sanchez's expected return next weekend. If New York is intent on keeping Reyes around for good, it's not a decision it is making public. General manager Steve Phillips has said all season that Reyes' arrival in the Major Leagues would come only when his maturation and the club's needs coincided. He downplayed the idea Tuesday that Reyes is coming to the big leagues to stay.
"We expect Jose's stay with the Major League club to be of short-term duration," Phillips said. "With Rey going on the disabled list, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity for Jose to get his first big league experience. We expect to Jose to go back to [Triple-A] Norfolk when Rey returns."
Reyes was batting .269, modest compared to the .290 career average he had in his three previous minor league seasons. But he has had leg problems dating back to January -- he strained a left quadriceps muscle playing winter ball -- that contributed to his slow start in Spring Training. Reyes also had right hamstring problems that limited him for a time at Norfolk.
Reyes, a wispy 6-footer who checks in at 160 pounds, relies mostly on his legs. He has a knack for turning singles into doubles and doubles in triples. He has four triples in 160 at-bats this season after leading all of the minor leagues last year with 19. He also has four doubles and 13 RBIs to go along with his International League-leading 26 stolen bases.
Sanchez, meanwhile, was on the disabled list from May 10-27 with the same injury. He raised his average from .196 to .225 by going 10-for-32 with three RBIs since returning. But his thumb was never quite healed and began acting up last week. He went 0-for-8 in a doubleheader loss to Milwaukee on Thursday and didn't play over the weekend against Seattle. His stay on the DL is retroactive to June 6.