NEW YORK -- Day 2 back with the New York Mets felt a lot more comfortable for Jose Reyes.
Although Reyes was warmly received during his return to the Mets on Tuesday, the 33-year-old infielder acknowledged feeling jittery while going hitless in four at-bats.
His second game back with the club since departing as a free agent after the 2011 season went far better. Reyes doubled twice and sent another shot to the track in right-center as the Mets beat the Miami Marlins 4-2 on Wednesday.
Reyes actually started at shortstop, not his newly adopted third base, because Asdrubal Cabrera needed to be scratched shortly before the first pitch due to what the team announced was "a family illness that kept him up all night."
“I told you guys yesterday that today is going to be much better,” said Reyes, who went 2-for-4 with a run scored. “That was good to get my first base hit. I felt way better today. I felt like me today. It wasn’t as exciting today. So it was like a normal day for me.”
Said Mets manager Terry Collins: “He might have even been more comfortable [to] the fact that he ended up playing shortstop. I’m telling you, he’s going to bring something to the table here.”
Reyes downplayed any relationship between playing shortstop and his production at the plate. He had been only 6-for-34 during his minor-league tuneup after getting released by the Colorado Rockies and signing with the Mets on June 25.
“I don’t think that was the difference,” Reyes said about playing shortstop. “I’m going to be ready to play anywhere. In the last minute, when I was in the dugout, Terry told me, ‘Oh, maybe you’re going to play shortstop.’ I came in, got my glove -- my little glove for shortstop -- and ready to go.”
