Reyes Returns to Mets Lineup On Saturday

So the New York Mets have been waiting for almost 11 months for this day to come. Well on Saturday that day will have finally arrived.

When Jose Reyes played in a game on May 13, 2009 at Citi Field against the Braves and tweaked his hamstring, who would've thought we'd really not seem him again at all until this Saturday?

Originally it was supposed to be a "day-to-day" situation according to Mets GM Omar Minaya. The "day-to-day" became week-to-week, month-to-month to ultimately almost a full year.

Now with Reyes coming back and the Mets fan base for the most part fired up about the return, it seems everything is right in Mets land.

On Friday, Reyes had a press conference to talk about his arrival. He was quoted saying many times "I'm just ready to play baseball," and "you'll see what I'll do tomorrow."

What Mets fans are hoping for is that Reyes goes 4-for-4 with two triples and a couple of runs scored if not more. Realistically speaking, you can't expect that kind of offense from the guy right off the bat (no pun intended).

Although his thyroid levels are supposedly back to normal (Reyes will have them tested every Monday), and although his hamstring is fine, you just don't know what to expect after the long layoff that he's coming back from.

Once again after taking a game off, the Mets offense proved that they can hit, scoring eight runs on Friday night, albeit against the Nationals.

The point is that they don't neccessarily need Reyes to be top-notch right out of the shoot although they'd gladly take whatever they get from him.

When Reyes returns to the lineup on Saturday, he will be batting in his customary leadoff spot, not third like Jerry Manuel indicated for the second straight spring. 

It'll deepen the lineup just a little bit as the Mets still aren't getting anything out of the first base position.

But for the Mets fans out there expecting an immediate impact from Reyes, let's just settle down a bit and give the man a chance to settle in after almost 11 months off.