Jose REYES

With the baseball season now underway, Mets infielder Jose Reyes takes a swipe at some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.

Q: How would you describe the atmosphere when the Mets are in a pennant race in September? A: Unbelievable. The energy the fans bring ... not only in September, I feel like they bring energy the whole season long. That’s why I like it here, I like the intensity. I like the energy that everybody brings. But to get in a pennant race in September, that’s priceless here. Q: What is your onfield mentality? A: It’s all about taking care of business. It’s all about do whatever I need to help my ballclub win games. I smile sometimes, but at the same time, I know that I have a job to do. Q: What is the biggest adjustment you’ve had to make playing third base? A: Everything happens there so quick, like you don’t have no time. At shortstop, it’s a little bit farther so you got more time to make a play, but at third base it’s happening in a second, so you have to be ready every pitch. Q: Do you miss shortstop? A: I played shortstop basically all my career, so that’s my position. But I don’t feel uncomfortable at all on third base. It’s easy for me because I don’t have to move too much. And still Terry [Collins, manager] told me that once in a while he’s gonna put me at shortstop, so I don’t have a problem with it. Q: Do you feel for David Wright, who is sidelined again — this time with a shoulder injury? A: It’s hard for me just to see him coming in here every day and work so hard and still not be able to go play the game that he loves. We have a great relationship. I never think that I’m gonna be playing his position here. I tell him, “Just get healthy. When you’re healthy, you’re gonna prove to everybody what you can do on the field.” Q: How scary is Yoenis Cespedes in the batter’s box for the opposing pitcher? A: I don’t want to face Cespedes. I don’t want to throw this guy a strike. Because I know if he throws a strike to this guy, at some point he’s gonna hit a homer. Q: He loves New York, too. A: Before he signed here this year, we got in touch together, we called each other back and forth. I told him, “Man, you love New York, you got a great fan base here. So try to work something out to try to stay here.” ... He told me from the beginning, “I want to stay. I don’t want to go nowhere, but it has to be the right price.” Q: So you helped recruit him. A: The first call that he made was to me. Q: Personal goals? A: I don’t try to focus too much on personal goals, but think I’m close to 2,000 hits. I

think I’m 20-something away from 2,000 and like 12 stolen bases from 500. I’m here to help the ballclub as much as I can, but those are some cool numbers that I want to accomplish. Q: Why didn’t it work out for you with the Marlins? A: I don’t know, I [felt] like I had a very good year the only year that I played there [2012]. I thought I was gonna be there the whole six years, but in baseball, you never know what’s gonna happen because it’s a business. Q: Was that disappointing? A: To go out as a trade right away in the first year, it not only surprised me, it surprised everybody. [Owner Jeffrey Luria] told me to buy a house there. I almost [bought] it. He [said] get a good place here where your daughter can have a good school to go and good place to be because you’re gonna be here for a long time. Q: Did you ever talk to him after you were traded? A: No but I talked to [team president] David Samson. The next year we went to play there the WBC, he was there in the stadium. This year of the WBC he went to the locker room and [said] hello to me and stuff. Q: What was your Toronto experience like, 2013-15? A: Unbelievable. I love it. I had some opportunity to play with some Dominican friends — [Edwin] Encarnacion, [Jose] Bautista, Melky Cabrera — and they treat me very well in Toronto. And the city embraced me. Q: Describe your experience in Colorado in 2015. A: I think that’s the first time that I [felt] frustrated in baseball [was] when I got traded to Colorado. Don’t take anything away from the team, but when I got traded there, I [felt] like it wasn’t me. ... I was a little bit unhappy. Q: What was the most frustrating point? A: My family’s gonna be far away from me. And when you come from a Toronto team to a team in Colorado, who lost like basically 90-something games every year, when you get traded to a team like that, I know that I had a job to do and try to do my job, but it’s hard, man, when you’re coming into a losing environment, it’s tough. Q: Did you dream about returning to New York? A: I dreamed that, but at the same time I [said], “Man, that’s gonna be impossible for me to come back to the Mets.” But at the same time, I still have that in the back of my mind, because I live here in New York, and every time that I go around, people are gonna ask me, “When are you coming back? Come back please!” and stuff. That always stayed in my mind like, “Man, people want me to come back.” I wish one day I come back to the Mets and finish my career there. Q: How did you feel when Mets fans cheered you after your domestic violence incident in Hawaii? A: Wow. Wow. To be honest with you, coming in here, I [didn’t] even know what to expect. Some people boo me and stuff, but most people were cheering. Not only last year, but through my career, in a lot of up and downs, they’re still behind me. I can’t even describe the emotions that I have. And like I say, I didn’t even know what to expect because the terrible mistake that I make and people still love me. Q: What did counseling teach you? A: Just to be a better person, better husband, better dad. Q: How are you a different hitter now than when you won a batting title in 2011? A: I don’t have the same speed that I used to have. When you have speed, if you put the ball in play, you have a good chance to get a hit and to get on base. I still have some speed, but not the same that I had before. Q: But you have enough speed to steal how many bases? A: Not 60. Not 50. Probably 30, 35. Q: Do you like hitting in the leadoff spot? A: I love it. ... I feel like 2006 and 2007, we led the league in scoring runs in the first inning. Every time you score a run in the first inning, that’s pressure for the other team. Q: Is this the best Mets team you’ve been on? A: 2006 we had a very good team, but this one, talent-wise? I think this is the best team that I ever have. 2006 we had a lot of pitchers coming in from Triple-A and stuff because Pedro Martinez was hurt, [Orlando] “El Duque” Hernandez was hurt. Q: How would you compare the 2006 lineup to this lineup? A: A little bit different because you have me stealing 60 bases. You have David Wright stealing 30 bases, too. But this is a power lineup, so everybody’s capable here to hit 20 homers, so that’s good to have.