|
Saturday, 06 March 2010 12:06 |
By Scott Forrest
The New York Mets breathed a huge sigh of relief following the first pitch to Jose Reyes during an intra-squad game in Port St. Lucie resulting in a hard hit triple.
 Reyes, hitting from the left hand side of the plate, lined a bullet down into the right field corner for a three-bagger. “I still had a little left in me but I felt good,” said Reyes. He added, “Between home and first it felt a little weird running – but everything is normal. I am ready 100%.”
Jose brings such a presence onto the field and third baseman David Wright seemed elated just to see the All-Star shortstop in position to his left. “I missed my teammates last year,” said Reyes. He added, “I love to be on the field. It was very hard watching games on TV.”
For Reyes, it was a long off-season of therapy and workouts. “It was kinda tough when I first started running. My leg was kinda weak and my running style was all over the place,” said Reyes.
“I put it all together though,” said the shortstop. “I had a long off-season working out every day. I only took two weeks off to visit my family and then I came right back and finished my workouts,” added Reyes. He went on to say, “I wanted to come to spring training 100 percent.”
During workouts Reyes admits he was a little on edge but never reluctant to turn up the speed dial. “The first couple of times I was a little scared, but after I did one sprint full speed – I said, OK everything is normal let’s do it again,” said Reyes.
The Mets need their star shortstop to be healthy this season. Whether he hits leadoff or third in the order, the success of the team is riding on his shoulders. Without Reyes, the whole chemistry of the team suffers both on and off the field.
“I feel good,” he said. “I am running right. I am not thinking about my hamstring at all.” Reyes added, “It is all in the past now. It’s out of my mind. I am ready 100%. |
