JUPITER, Fla. — The Mets got their first look at Jose Reyes in an opposing uniform when he led off for the Marlins yesterday, but manager Terry Collins insisted facing their former shortstop wasn’t that big of a deal.
“I’m more interested in seeing Josh Johnson than Jose,” Collins said of Miami’s top starting pitcher.
Still, there’s no denying a lineup with Andres Torres leading off and Omar Quintanilla at short — which is what the Mets used yesterday — is considerably different than one with Reyes. And having Reyes, who signed a six-year, $106 million deal in the offseason, in the other dugout made a difference.
Jason Bay was asked how you make up for Reyes’ absence.
“You don’t,” the left fielder said. “You deal with what we have. There aren’t many guys who do what he can do.”
That especially is true on the Mets, who didn’t make any significant moves after letting Reyes walk following a season of uncertainty. But Bay insists he and his teammates aren’t sulking over Reyes’ loss.
“There’s not one guy in this clubhouse [who is] whining that he’s gone, [saying] ‘Poor us,’” said Bay after a 3-1 loss. “We deal with what we’ve got and we’ve got some guys to step into that role. It’s not gonna be one guy, but you get a few guys to energize and you make up for it.”
The Mets still are looking for those guys, hoping that some of their younger players come on. None of them, however, have the talent or dynamic abilities Reyes possesses.
Reyes’ debut against his former team was uneventful. He grounded out to R.A. Dickey in the first inning in his only at-bat. He played three innings and hit right-handed against Dickey’s knuckleball.
“It was good to see my old team,” said Reyes, who knows the real test will be April 24, when the Marlins visit the Mets for the first time of the season. “This is nothing. It’s gonna be crazy back in New York. This is spring training.”
He doesn’t know what kind of reception he’ll receive at Citi Field.
“If they boo me, that’s OK,” he said. “I feel like I gave everything I had.”
And he insisted he never told the Marlins he would only sign with them if they offered him the most money, as team president David Samson reportedly said he did.
“I have no idea where that was coming from,” Reyes said. “Not at any point did I say that to him. This team signed a lot of players and they want to win. That’s why I came to Miami. Nine years in the big leagues and I didn’t win anything yet.”
Dickey admitted losing Reyes affected the team more than losing a typical teammate.
“He’s a little bit different because he meant so much to so many people,” said Dickey, who didn’t give up a hit in two scoreless innings before leaving after a 54-minute rain delay at Roger Dean Stadium. “You may not replace his exuberance with one person.”
But Dickey thought the Mets could overcome his departure, at least in the clubhouse.
“I’m not disappointed in the guys we have, from an energy standpoint,” Dickey said. “I haven’t really noticed a huge vacancy. Now, as time goes by, you’ll have to measure that.”
And you may get a different answer.