Jose Reyes, the engine that drives the Mets’ offense, is running on empty. Struggling at the plate and stripped of his trademark energy, Reyes asked out of the lineup for last night’s 6-1 win over the Cubs in hopes that some much-needed rest will finally break him out of his malaise.
“I talked to them, told them I needed a day,” Reyes said. “I’m a little bit tired. Nothing serious, nothing crazy. It’s just tired. [Yesterday] morning it hit me a little bit.”
Reyes is confident this was just a result of 29 grueling weekend innings and not a relapse of the hyperthyroidism that cost him the first four games.
“Oh, no,” he said of it being a relapse. “God, no.”
Last night, Reyes was limited to a pinch-hit cameo in the seventh. He couldn’t catch up to 88- and 89-mph fastballs, but got lucky when Jeff Samardzija grazed him with an 0-2 pitch. Two batters later, he scored on Angel Pagan’s homer.
“[Sunday] I was good, but I felt a little tired. We’ll see. I’ll take a day and come back relaxed and get some hits,” said Reyes, who is hitting .154 and mired in an 0-for-17 slump.
He has just one steal and has been a shell of his high-octane self.
“We expected without spring training it’s going to take some time. He’s basically been out for a year. He’s going to be fine,” said GM Omar Minaya. “He’s not hitting the average and all that, but the history of Jose Reyes when he puts everything together is a very good player. He’s not gonna be Jose Reyes that we’ve seen [right away]. That’ll take time.”
Said Manuel: “The next time you see him on the field, you’ll start seeing some things that you haven’t seen so far this year. I think you’ll see him take the next step being consistent at the plate.”
