Jose Reyes

Well, Jerry Manuel is on record as saying that he would consider batting Jose Reyes third during the 2010 season. I found out about this on Friday, but I needed a few days to wrap my head around this concept. I do understand the point to this - with Beltran missing the first month or so of the season, Jerry wants to stretch the line up as much as possible. Reyes batting third allows him to have a threat through the fifth or sixth spot in the line up (depending on production) whereas Reyes leading off only gives depth through the clean up hitter and maybe the fifth spot.

With that being said, I really hate this idea. I'm scared that batting Reyes third is going to change his approach at the plate. I do not want Jose swinging for the fences because he's now in an RBI spot... I want him hitting sharp line drives to the gap that he can easily turn into triples at Citi Field. Not only that, one of Jose's biggest assets (if not THE biggest) is his speed. If he's batting third and gets on base that is usually going to mean one of two things - either there are men on base in front of him, or there are two outs. Neither situation is conducive to Jose Reyes doing what he does best - rattling pitchers with the threat of a steal.

In the end, it doesn't matter what I think, because it is Jerry's decision to make. And I refuse to let this kill my Spring Training buzz... at least for now.