OAKLAND – After the Mets lost to the A’s 5-0 Tuesday night, Willie Randolph said there might be some “adjustments” with his lineup.
An adjustment is coming.
Mike Cameron was still unable to play last night, with an ailing right knee and left finger. If he had been able to play, Randolph said he “probably” would have hit leadoff, with Jose Reyes dropped to the two-hole.
As it was with Cameron out, Reyes was still hitting leadoff last night. But it sounds as if when Cameron is ready to play, you can figure on seeing him at the top of the lineup and Reyes following him.
The Mets entered last night in a terrible offensive funk, having scored 14 runs in their previous six games, losing five of them. So, Randolph is changing the top in hopes of a spark.
“It’s not that this is all on Jose or anything like that,” Randolph said. “It’s just to me, you hit first or second, it’s not a big, big difference anyway. But we need to get more men on base, and hopefully Cameron can give us a little bit more of that. Having said that, Cammy’s banged up. I probably would have made this move a little while earlier, but he’s banged up.”
Reyes was hitting .263 with a .286 on-base percentage. Cameron was hitting .320 with a team-high .426 OBP. Statistically, the move makes sense.
Still, the move is an odd one, primarily because Reyes, who just turned 22 years old, figures to be the Mets’ leadoff man for years. Taking him out of that element prompts the question of whether it could be detrimental to his development.
“Not at all. It’s all about the learning process. It’s all about experience,” Randolph said.
Randolph did say that a hot streak could propel Reyes back into the leadoff hole. It’s also worth wondering if Cameron is the right man for the job. Since 2002, he’s batted leadoff 79 times and owns a .241 batting average with a .291 on-base percentage in that spot.
Randolph, though, said he likes the fit.
“He sees more pitches,” Randolph said. “He’s more patient at the plate.”
Reyes, who never complained when the Mets moved him from shortstop to second base last year, said he was fine with this as well, reasoning that he’s hit there at times in each of the last two seasons.
Said Reyes, “Whatever’s best for the team, man, I’m going to do.”
Reyes has batted leadoff in every game he’s started this year. Randolph said he envisions Reyes as a leadoff hitter again for him in the future, and said he believes that spot in the lineup is a lot to ask of him right now.
“It’s a big responsibility and it’s almost unfair to put that kind of responsibility on someone like him at this point in time,” Randolph said. “The fact that we don’t have someone like that on our club, what are you going to do? You go with the speed.
“But just because I started out spring training from day one [with Reyes as] the leadoff guy, didn’t make any statement about what I felt he could be. I just didn’t have any other choice, really. Not that it was a bad choice. But coming into spring training, I felt like, you know what? If this kid can really start to show some patience and do some things, he’ll be a nice leadoff hitter. But in no way did I say, he’s my leadoff hitter and that’s what it’s going to be.”
