PORT ST. LUCIE — Ruben Tejada’s image can be removed from the side of milk cartons everywhere: He’s in Mets camp and ready to go.
The shortstop had a quick meeting with Terry Collins upon arriving for workouts yesterday — at which time the manager told Tejada he was disappointed he hadn’t arrived earlier for spring training. The 22-year-old Tejada took the message in stride and vowed to make up for lost time.
“I’m here today to start working and try to help the team,” Tejada said.
Though Tejada beat the deadline for position players to report, he was well behind the schedule Collins had drawn up for him when last season concluded. That schedule called for Tejada to make two trips to the Mets’ complex during the winter. The final trip, in early February, then would have blended into the start of spring training.
Collins’ hope was Tejada, who spent most of last season as a backup infielder with the team, could get an early start working with Daniel Murphy, the other half of the Mets’ new double-play combination. Murphy arrived in camp 16 days ago.
Tejada was delayed by visa issues in his native Panama, stemming from the fact he was late in getting an appointment to receive the paperwork.
“I’m going to look at the team on the other side of [New York]. Who was the first guy in their camp?” Collins said, referring to Derek Jeter. “The biggest baseball star in the city of New York. He does it all the time. It sends a message. [Jeter] does it, how come others can’t? [Tejada] got it. He really did. He’s such a good kid.”
Tejada indicated he meant no disrespect toward Collins by remaining in Panama.
“I had a personal trainer, so I thought it was better off to work with the personal trainer and be ready and strong,” Tejada said.
The Mets will now begin trying to figure out if Tejada can be an everyday major league shortstop. He showed enough glimpses last year to convince the organization he’s capable.
But Tejada is the first to admit he’s not Jose Reyes — who took $106 million in December to become the Marlins’ new shortstop.
“I’m Ruben Tejada,” he said, when asked if it would be tough following Reyes’ act. “I try to play hard every day to help the team.”
The biggest question is whether Tejada will hit enough as an everyday player. Even if he isn’t Reyes, the Mets know he will be fine defensively.
“He covers a lot of ground, and he’s got an absolute cannon for an arm,” David Wright said.
Wright said anybody expecting Tejada to be Reyes will be disappointed.
“Obviously it’s not fair if people start comparing them, because he’s not Jose Reyes,” Wright said. “But then again, there’s not really anybody that’s Jose Reyes. I don’t think [Tejada] is the type of young player who’s going to go out there and try to play like Jose. He kind of knows his game.”
Tejada had a fielding slump in early July, but the Mets had him work with Tim Teufel — now the team’s third-base coach — and didn’t see a recurrence over the season’s final two months. Teufel emphasized using the back hand instead of trying to get in front of every ball.
“His backhand got much better,” Teufel said. “We just worked on his backhand and staying low, under the ball and getting his right foot back in the proper position. He’s a great kid — a hard worker — and he’s got a lot of skills.”