Reyes sits, struggles continue
Jose Reyes’s two-month funk finally may be catching up to him.
The veteran infielder was on the bench Friday night for the second time in three games, and this time it wasn’t for a breather. For the time being at least, hothitting Wilmer Flores has forced manager Terry Collins’s hand. Collins wouldn’t commit to this being a long-term change at third base, but he wouldn’t commit to Reyes being back in the lineup on Saturday, either.
“I told Jose take a deep breath, rest up, because right now [Flores] is as hot as anybody on the club,” Collins said before the Mets lost to the Pirates 12-7 at Citi Field. “Right now, one guy’s swinging the bat good, one guy isn’t. I’m trying to get Flo’ some at-bats and see what happens.
“As long as he’s swinging it the way he’s swinging it, got to get him in there, I thought.”
The 33-year-old Reyes is in a massive funk, hitless in his past 16 at-bats and with just three hits in his last 30 times at the plate after flying out to center field as a pinch-hitter in the eighth. Overall, he’s hitting an anemic .191 in 188 at-bats.
“It is a surprise to me,” Reyes said before the game, referring to his season so far. “To me, I feel like I’m a better hitter than that. But one way or another, it’s going to be better. ... Lately, I’ve been hitting the ball hard with bad luck, too. That’s part of the game. It happens. But I feel good overall.”
Despite his numbers, Collins had still been batting Reyes second, and in recent days had praised him for the Mets’ strong offensive production in May, when they averaged 5.6 runs per game.
But the manager’s tune changed Friday. Flores gave him no other choice. He has been the Mets’ best hitter by far of late, hitting safely in 12 of his past 14 starts, including a 1-for-3 night on Friday.
Flores produced the only run in Thursday’s 2-1 loss to the Brewers, and hit .379 in May with a .906 OPS. He has begun to hit right-handed pitchers far better than he did last year — he’s batting .275 against them this season — when he was almost exclusively used against southpaws.
Yoenis Cespedes has been jogging, but has not yet run full bore since being pulled off a rehab assignment after a May 26 game with Single-A St. Lucie. That seemingly places in doubt Cespedes’ return to minor league games this weekend. It also brings into question whether Cespedes will be available to be activated from the disabled list to serve as the designated hitter when the Mets play at Texas on Tuesday and Wednesday, which general manager Sandy Alderson identified earlier this week as a potential target.
Cespedes originally landed on the disabled list on April 28 with a left hamstring strain. He aggravated his right quadriceps muscle last week while running the bases in his lone rehab game.
Alderson told The Post on Friday there was no new update regarding Cespedes.
With first-base prospect Dominic Smith on the horizon for the Mets, Lucas Duda is making himself a coveted free agent this upcoming winter. After missing four months in 2016 with a stress fracture in his lower back and then requiring offseason surgeries to address core muscle and wrist issues, Duda now has six homers and is hitting .351 (13for-37) in his past nine games.
Duda’s two-homer night Friday gave him 118 long balls for his career, matching Ed Kranepool for 10th most in franchise history. Next up: Edgardo Alfonzo at No. 9 with 120.
Michael Conforto, who had been 5-for-30 in his past seven games, contributed a two-run homer that evened the score at 4-4 in the fifth.
Robert Gsellman will receive one additional opportunity in the rotation beyond Saturday against the Pirates. The Mets need an extra starter June 10 in Atlanta because of a doubleheader, so Gsellman will face the Braves.
With Steven Matz and Seth Lugo slated to return from the disabled list next week, Alderson has indicated Gsellman likely is ticketed for the bullpen soon.