NEW YORK – Jose Reyes returned to the Toronto Blue Jays’ lineup for the opener of Tuesday’s double-header against the New York Yankees with his eye on finishing out the season despite soreness and swelling in his right knee.
“Oh yeah, that’s my attitude,” he said. “I want to finish the season healthy and see what happens next year.”
Reyes sat out games Saturday and Sunday in Tampa Bay resting his right knee, which flared up on him earlier last week during a series against the Boston Red Sox. The theory is he’s been putting extra pressure on his right leg to keep weight off the left ankle he sprained earlier this season.
“It’s tough for me to plant down and put some weight on that leg,” said Reyes. “It is what it is, I know the ankle is going to be hurting until the off-season when I get some rest.”
The concern for the Blue Jays is not turning one problem into two, as Reyes has never had knee issues before. He said the knee bothers him most when he’s slowing down on the bases, but while in the batter’s box, “I don’t think about it. I think about how I’m going to run to first base.”
“Other than that everything is good,” he said.
Manager John Gibbons said the plan was to play him in the opener and then rest him for the second game.
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SATURDAY STARTER: The Blue Jays had planned to run with a rotation of R.A. Dickey, Mark Buehrle, J.A. Happ, Esmil Rogers and Todd Redmond but Tuesday’s double-header means they’ll need a starter for Saturday.
While prospects Sean Nolin and Marcus Stroman have been discussed internally, no decisions have been made.
“Not sure which way we’re going to go to be honest with you,” said manager John Gibbons.
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BIG UP FOR BRETT: If it’s up to Jose Reyes, any thoughts of shifting Brett Lawrie to second base from the hot corner will be put to rest for good.
“Lawrie is one of the best third basemen defensive-wise, he’s very good out there, I don’t know what the team was doing when they tried to make him a second baseman,” said the all-star shortstop. “I don’t know where that idea comes from, because if you see him playing third base, he’s very good there.”
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RATING THE ROOKIES: Though the production hasn’t been there yet, manager John Gibbons likes what he sees from young outfielders Kevin Pillar and Anthony Gose.
“Pillar is still looking for that first hit but he has always hit so it might just be one of those cases where you get that first one out of the way and you can relax a little bit,” said Gibbons. “But he has done some good things defensively, laid down a sac bunt the other day, so it’s not like he hasn’t done anything. That first one can be tough to come by, perfect place to get it here in Yankee Stadium.
“Gose has had some good at-bats for us. He has been good defensively, he slipped up the other night when he broke back and led to a couple of runs, but other than that he has been pretty good.”
Strikeouts have been Gose’s bane, and he’s got seven of them in 12 at-bats since returning.
“Over time I think he’ll get better at that but that’s kind of been his MO,” said Gibbons. “But the type of player he is, you have to put the ball in play, that’s big. He has a little sock in that bat, too, almost enough to kind of hurt him. But speed guys, they can’t be high strikeout guys.”
