Coleman's Corner: It's Good To Be Jose Reyes

By Ed Coleman
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It is rather good to be Jose Reyes these days.

He is young, healthy, on top of the baseball world, and heading for a big payday -- either here or elsewhere -- when all is said and done at the end of this season.

His manager, Terry Collins, considers him one of a kind.

He also often finds it hard to describe what he's watching.

The numbers speak for themselves -- and are somewhat eye-popping. Reyes leads the majors with 30 multi-hit games and 11 triples. He leads the National League in batting average, and has gone back and forth with the Red Sox' Adrian Gonzalez for most hits in the majors all season. He is in the midst of a 12-game hitting streak during which he's batting over .460 - Reyes has already had a 13-game streak earlier this season (April 2-16). He has 19 doubles - he also has 20 stolen bases. And perhaps most importantly, he's hitting .500 (16-32) in late-inning pressure situations - the highest mark in the majors.

Reyes is constantly making contact -- good contact -- and has shown tremendous plate coverage all year.

Collins also feels that where Reyes is placing his hits has made a huge difference.

For Reyes, who spent too much time in Port St. Lucie rehabbing the previous two seasons, spring training this year was different. It gave him an early indication that he could have a big year.

Healthy, wealthy and wise. He's wiser, he will be very wealthy, but right now Reyes is healthy and that means the world to him.

The elephant in the room is, of course, where Reyes will be next year. Will he remain in New York with the Mets, or will he be shipped elsewhere or forced to go to another team because the Mets simply cannot afford to keep him? And does the contract speculation bother him?

Well, it's out of his hands -- and also out of somewhere else.

Collins doesn't know the eventual outcome of the Reyes saga either.

But he does know one thing: you just gotta see him play.

C U soon
Eddie C.

Can you stomach the idea of Reyes tearing it up on another team? Sound off in the comments below...

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