LISTEN UP
Reyes speaks with minor leaguers about his mistakes
ALTOONA, Pa. — Jose Reyes wants to make this comeback work on every level.
With that in mind he spoke to the opposing team, the Curve, before Wednesday night’s game at PNG Field about his situation, the terrible mistake he made and his 52-game suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy.
“It’s something I wanted to do and it went well,’’ Reyes told The Post after Binghamton’s 13-4 win. “I also want to speak to these guys, too, in Binghamton at some point. I just want them to know that I’m going to be open about it.
Curve manager Joey Cora, who spent 11 years in the majors, managed Reyes early in his minor league career.
“We had a long conversation Tuesday night, and he apologized, and told me he wanted to talk to my guys,” Cora said. “He made a big mistake and he told me that — ‘My bad.’ That’s great, some people give you the excuses, not him, he owns it. This helps the guys, and it’s going to help Jose, too. I love the guy. I feel for him and his wife, obviously. It was a mistake, and for the rest of his life, he is going to own it and try to make up for it. But things are going to be better at home.
“I want these young guys to understand that if you make a mistake, you own it. Even though you can have all the money in the world and be a superstar like Jose, but when you make a mistake, you have to be accountable and apologize and then try to repair, not just apologize, and that’s it. I want him to tell them what he is doing about it.
“He owns it. He has apologized, and he is going to move forward with his life, too. He’s going to learn from it, and hopefully everything will be fine at home. I think it’s great that he [talked] to our team.”
Curve first baseman Jose Osuna was impressed by Reyes’ talk.
“It’s a very important message,” Osuna said. “He is a superstar, and he tried to tell us what we need to do to do things the right way, how to move forward.”
Reyes went into the game 0for-9. Late Tuesday, he got a text from his friend David Wright. The text read: “Are you going to get any hits?”
Teammate humor. Reyes got a single Wednesday night in four at-bats, picked up two RBIs and scored a run. He also purchased dinner for both teams — boxes and boxes of Chipotle.
Wright and Reyes also spoke Tuesday night, a detailed conver- sation about playing third base.
“It was a really good talk,” Reyes said.
Reyes will return to Binghamton with the B-Mets.
“I need more action in the games,” he said. “I need to see more right-handers.”
When he does make it back to Citi Field, he said of the moment he runs on the field: “I know it’s going to be great.”
For now, It’s all third base, all the time, no outfield.
“One position at a time,” Reyes said.
This is a comeback on many levels for Reyes. Most importantly, speaking honestly to other ballplayers about the mistake he made and his suspension was something that needed to be done.
The punchless Mets have outfield issues, but Juan Lagares said he still needs a little time to get his timing back after suffering a sprained left thumb.
“It feels pretty good,” Lagares said Wednesday night at PNG Field as he picked up a triple and single in six at-bats for Binghamtom against the Curve. Tuesday night was his first game back on his rehab assignment after injuring the thumb June 14.
“It’s been two weeks where I didn’t see any pitches. I’m trying to get my timing back,” he said. “I need some games to get my timing back.”