LOST HIS WAY
JOSE REYES knows something is not right. The veteran Mets’ infielder knows he has been jumping on the wrong pitches, his mechanics aren’t just right and obviously the results aren’t there. He knows in hindsight he’s putting pressure on himself, but in the moment, he says he feels perfectly normal at the plate. “When you try to do too much, it’s tough. You have to slow down a little bit and try to let it go. I don’t feel like I am trying to do too much. I am just trying to play my game,” Reyes said. “In a long season, it’s tough to always do things the way you want to. The only thing I can control right now is continue to go to the batting cage early, and continue to do my routine when I get going.”
Like Reyes, the Mets offense is a little concerning so far this season, too. That is why some in the organization are more worried about their converted third baseman than they are saying publicly. The remarks have been blunt, but hopeful.
“We’ve got to get guys on, we’ve got to get the top of the order going,” Terry Collins said. “We’ve got to get Jose going. He’s just a really, really big piece of this offense. We’ve got to get him going.” That’san understatement. The Mets went into Monday’s off day as the fourthhighest scoring team in the majors, despite the fact their team batting average of .223 was the fifth worst. While they are celebrating hitting a major-league leading 22 home runs (tied with Milwaukee), they have to be a little concerned they have only scored 27 runs total via that power.
The Mets are never going to be a small-ball offensive team, so they need to get more bang for the power they have down the lineup. The top of their lineup simply has to get on base more consistently.
Through the first 13 games, the Mets leadoff hitters are batting .086 (5-for-58) with six walks and 19 strikeouts. With Reyes (seven games), Curtis Granderson (five) and Michael Conforto (one) hitting in the top spot, the Mets have a .172 on-base percentage from their leadoff hitters.
Granderson had been in the No.1 spot by default over the past few years, but the Mets signed Reyes in part to get the center fielder out of having to hit there. They wanted to put Granderson, who hit 30 home runs but had just 59 RBI last season, down in the order. And Reyes is a natural leadoff hitter when he is right.
Reyes, who joined the Mets in July after serving a 52-game suspension for violating MLB’s joint domestic violence policy and being cut by the Rockies, was a good leadoff man for the Mets. Returning to the team with which he spent the first 10 years of his career, an older and perhaps a step slower Reyes scored 45 runs, drove in 24 and hit .267 in 60 games as the leadoff hitter.
This season, Reyes is hitting .087 (4-for-46) with one double and six walks. He’s scored three runs and struck out 13 times and has been dropped to the seventh spot.
Granderson, who is hitting just .174, is back in the leadoff spot.
Collins doesn’t have many options at the moment. Conforto, who did fine in his one start there, and Juan Lagares, the only other option, are only part-time players in an already overcrowded outfield. Conforto could see another turn there this week with the Phillies scheduled to start three righthanded pitchers in the upcoming series.
But Collins and the Mets’ only real solution is to get Reyes going. His struggles have some in the organization wondering if time is finally catching up with the 33-year old four-time All-Star and former batting champion and he is declining quicker than expected.
The bigger question for the Mets is if time is running short for them to wait for him to figure out what’s not right.
ON DECK METS
(1-1, 7.45) vs. (0-0, 0.00) (0-1, 9.28) vs. (0-2, 9.00) (1-0, 0.95) vs. (1-0, 3.27)