Reyes Batting Third
Dave Meisel | February 22, 2010According to a Tweet from Jon Heyman, the Mets are serious about batting Jose Reyes 3rd and will do so until Carlos Beltran returns.
A projected Opening Day ‘10 lineup:
1. Angel Pagan
2. Luis Castillo
3. Jose Reyes
4. Jason Bay
5. David Wright
6. Daniel Murphy
7. Jeff Francoeur
8. Rod Barajas
9. Johan Santana
Sooo…there you have it. What do I think? Stranger things have happened, and it could be worse. Something about batting Jose third interests me…for example, look at Hanley Ramirez. After hitting leadoff for his whole career, he switched to batting third last year. Despite lower power numbers and steals, Hanley hit for by far the highest average of his career.
Jose Reyes is certainly a different player. Hanley is much more powerful and will likely further develop into more of an A-Rod type player while Reyes is in his own category, perhaps more like Jimmy Rollins (but with a higher ceiling across all the tools except power). However, I do think batting Reyes third can make him an all-around better player. I think he will hit for more average batting third; he will take fewer risks and learn to play more smartly; he will probably learn to hit for more power as well as he learns to drive the ball and drive in more runs as opposed to getting on base and wreaking havoc that way. As a leadoff hitter, Reyes would usually be around a .300 average with 15 homers and 50 steals; as a 3rd hitter, it’s not outlandish to say that he would be more along the lines of .315 with 20 or more homers and 35 to 45 steals.
In terms of the Mets lineup, it does make the lineup much deeper. Instead of a large drop off after the 4th spot (Wright to Murphy) you move that drop-off back a spot and now you have five hitters at the top of the lineup that are on-base machines. When this happens, you create more opportunities for the bottom of the lineup to drive in runs. Furthermore, after the first inning, the top of the order doesn’t matter as much, because different batters will lead off innings. Reyes may lose a few at-bats, but ultimately, he will only truly HAVE to be a different player once a game. You also get a “triple lead-off” with your first three hitters, when can be beneficial.
I realize in writing this post than in my attempt to analyze the decision, I’m in support of it unconsciously. I suppose this is true; ultimately, it may turn out to be more out of curiosity than anything. Until I’m proven wrong, though, I will believe as fact that Reyes will always be better suited to bat first.










