PORT ST. LUCIE — Just call this show “Everybody Loves Reyes.”
Except that many Mets players aren’t laughing as the organization tries to decide whether Jose Reyes should be part of the team’s Opening Day roster.
On a day Reyes appeared in a minor league exhibition game against the Cardinals — his most extensive action since returning last Wednesday from an overactive thyroid — one Mets player told The Post there is a prevailing feeling in the clubhouse that the shortstop is being “babied” because the organization fears a potential public relations hit should the shortstop reinjure his hamstring.
The player said Reyes belongs in the starting lineup for Monday’s season-opener against the Marlins.
“It’s kind of silly,” the player said. “You play the game. You can get hurt as easily playing [a minor league exhibition] as playing on Opening Day.”
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The Mets hierarchy might disagree as it continues to take the safe route in Reyes’ recovery after he spent 2 1/2 weeks on his couch resting until his thyroid levels returned to normal. The team’s greatest fear is Reyes will rush back and suffer a recurrence of the right hamstring problems that shelved him for most of last season.
Reyes yesterday played three innings of the minor league scrimmage and went 1-for-5 in his first “game” action since appearing in an intersquad game on March 1. He hadn’t played in a game against another team since last May 20.
Though the Mets prohibited Reyes from running hard beyond first base, he still jogged into second with an easy double after hitting a shot over the center fielder’s head in the first inning.
And Reyes said he probably would have turned on the jets and raced around first with a double on his mind during his third at-bat had the first baseman not made a diving stop to retire him.
“If they let me, I’m ready [to run] because I don’t have a problem with my legs,” Reyes said. “Everybody in here told me to stop at first base. I said, ‘Oh, man. It’s hard for me to stay at first base when I see the ball all the way to the wall.’ I said that I’m going to second.”
Defensively, Reyes mishandled a chopper — he was attempting a barehanded play and the ball hit him in the face — for an error.
“That’s an easy play,” Reyes said. “I should have made that play.”
The next step for Reyes could be facing minor-league competition with no restrictions on running the bases. The Mets also want to stretch out his innings.
The team will have to decide by tomorrow whether to take Reyes with it for its final two Grapefruit League games — across the state in St. Petersburg and Sarasota — or leave him behind for further minor league games. Manager Jerry Manuel said both options will be discussed.
However, it would seem most likely that Reyes would remain behind, allowing him the potential for the most plate appearances; the minor league games are unstructured and let players bat out of order.
If Reyes were to travel and play in Grapefruit League games, the Mets would also lose the option of backdating a potential disabled list stint to March 26.
“He has to continue to accumulate plate appearances,” Manuel said. “I’m just a real big believer that you’ve got to get that timing down. The other part of the game, he is so good we can kind of get away with that.
“But [the hitting] is what determines whether you are ready or not. The more [at-bats] he gets and the better we feel about that, the better indicator we’ll have what is the right thing.”
mpuma@nypost.com