ENERGY BOOST
Solid game inspires hope for Reyes, Mets
After Terry Collins lit into his Mets on Thursday for their lack of energy this season, the man most expected to bring that energy — Jose Reyes — confessed he hasn’t had any at all.
He also vowed to change that, and said he can feel himself finally coming around.
“No doubt, me myself, I feel like I have no energy at all. … I want to be on base and make stuff happen, and so far I’m not able to do that. When I start to do that I’m going to make sure that the energy level is going to be high,” Reyes said after the Mets’ 7-5 loss to the Braves at Citi Field. “We don’t have energy out there. We feel that way, like we go out there with no energy. It’s hard to win a ballgame like that.
“It’s hard for me when I’m not getting on base too much; I feel like I’m not contributing to the ballclub. When I’m on base, I’m making stuff happen, that’s more energy for the ballclub. Hopefully I can start to do that more often and contribute to this ballclub as much as I can.”
The Mets have looked le- thargic in dropping six straight games and 10 of their past 11. They have averaged just three runs per game over that span, prompting a Collins postgame rant.
“He speaks from the bottom of his heart,” Reyes said. “To see us struggling now, going out there with no energy, as a player we have to appreciate that from the skipper to come out and talk to us after the game the way that he did.”
Reyes’ malaise has been a big part of the Mets’ skid, so they can only hope his fifthinning homer is a sign he’s breaking out of it.
Reyes is the leadoff hitter the Mets need, but as recently as Sunday, he was batting just .095 and demoted to sixth (Thursday, he hit eighth). But hitting coach Kevin Long told The Post he sensed Reyes, improving since putting to- gether three solid at-bats against Max Scherzer, and in the three games since, he has gone 4-of-10 with two RBIs, two walks, a steal and a run scored.
“Yeah, I feel better,’’ said Reyes, who is batting .137. “I feel like when I get a good pitch to hit I put a good swing on the ball. The key for me is letting the out pitch in the dirt [go], so I don’t strike out too much. That was the key.
“I didn’t strike out the last three games; that was something I like a lot. When I don’t strike out, that means that I’m putting the ball in play. … Lately I’m hitting too many fly balls. That’s not my game.”
Asked if Reyes was starting to snap out of his slump, Collins said: “Well, I hope it is. He’s taking some much better swings, and his approach at the plate’s been much better.”