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Through 104 at-bats this season, Jose Reyes is on pace to hit just .250 with 12 HR and 62 RBI while stealing just 35 bases.
Reyes is batting .251 in his last 427 at-bats, dating back to last season’s All-Star break, during which he has a .311 on base percentage.
In addition, Reyes has made five errors through just 24 games – he made 12 all of last year.
During eight games in the middle of April, however, Reyes hit .333 with nine runs scored, during which the Mets were 8–0.
Otherwise, he is hitting .205, during which the Mets are 6–12.
In the New York Post, Bart Hubbuch quotes Reyes as saying, “Everything is going to be good…The season is still young.”
[Poll=83]
He’ll be fine. But it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if he spent some time watching tape of April/May 2007 with HoJo. Also, he needs to slide feet first at least 5% of the time. If it’s in the back of the SS or 2B mind that he just might be coming in with the spikes in the front, then it’s far less likely that he’ll get kneed in the head. Not all the time, ’cause I know he loves to slide headfirst. Just every once in awhile.
As a fast dude that used to steal bases, it’s so much easier to slide headfirst.
And I don’t care what anybody says, you get there faster head first than you do feet first. And even if technically you don’t, it feels that way.
The desire to steal bases and the instinct to take every inch you can while doing so supercedes protecting yourself physically.
It has to be extremely difficult to re-program yourself.
You definitely get their faster. And as a slow dude who tried to sneak a stolen base or two against D1 catchers, I needed every edge I could get.
That said, I agree with theperfectgame. Middle infielders have crossed the line on Reyes. They are deliberately dropping their knees in the baseline hoping to block his path to the base and make him skittish of contact. He needs to go in feet first once or twice & slice the crap out of someone’s thigh. It’ll never happen again.
Good point and I am in agreement.
Hey Cerrone, your NL East standings are wrong. The Mets are in 3rd place the last time i did the math. I’m all for supporting my team, but this is just ridiculous.
As for Reyes, I think he is what he has shown over his last 427 at bats. He is a good player without any protection in this lineup except for Wright.
He explains this on a regular basis. The standings on this site are generated by games lost, with the theory being that you can always win more games, but can’t undo losses.
The last time you did your math, you did it wrong. By winnind percentage, the Mets are in second place. By # of losses they are in third place. I guess if you counted # of wins they’d be in third, but I’ve never seen anyone rank the division that way…
Haha, winnind percentage. The d and g aren’t event next to each other. Maybe I should stop typing with my feet…
Protection for Reyes should be over rated. He is our lead off guy, he needs to get on base. Besides you can’t blame that on Castillo, he has done much better since coming back from his early injury.
Reyes has been swinging at the 1st pitch too much and is stepping into the bucket especially LH and gets too many popups.
His popup rate is significantly lower than it ever has been in his career. This is where the mind is playing tricks on you. He’s just into a bunch of hard outs. It’s pretty simple when you look at his GB/FB/LD rates.
Good stat, do you know what it is when he is hitting LH?
If you do, I’m gonna be a little frightened…
Unfortunately, I don’t think that fangraphs breaks it down per side of the plate for switch-hitters.
I’ll look into it though and let you know.
Yeah, I can’t find where they break it down for each side of the plate. But I’ll put it this way, last year, Reyes’ IF/F% was 13.4%, which is way too high. This year, it’s 3.2%.
IF/F = infield flyball per flyout
Reyes is hitting .239 as a lefty (vs. RHPs), with a .292 OBP, and 6 extra base hits over 67 AB
as a Righty (vs. LHPs), he’s at .270 with a .333 OBP, and 4 extra-base hits over 37 AB.
That just tells you that his popups are now reaching the outfield. Great success…
Except for that his flyball rate is down as well.
So try again.
Reyes had a better April than Wright did in 2007, and we know how his season turned out. So I’m not too worried yet, but 3-4 more weeks of this and the Mets will be in serious trouble.
He is also killing my fantasy team. Thanks Jose.
That’s why I pick Wright over Reyes. Even when Reyes hits a rope, he looks bad… his lefty swing is deplorable, someone needs to teach him that lefties don’t need to swing and run at the same time when they hit a fly ball.
Why do you have to pick one over the other? Why not just appreciate both?
I think he means for fantasy.
Ah, I missed that. Thanks and my apologies.
Ichiro swings and runs with plenty of success– that’s the advantage of hitting lefthanded.
Reyes has had some terrible luck at the plate this year. I know, I know, people don’t want to acknowledge that luck is a factor in this game, but it is. These things tend to almost always even out over the depth of the season.
He’s hitting more line drives, less infield flies, more groundballs, and less fly balls yet his average is way down right now. The only criticism I will accept is that his walk rate is below league average again. And he has really stepped up his walk production recently.
Sometimes the line drives and groundballs find gloves. It’s baseball. I’m not worried at all.
The thing that sucks is that once Reyes got into a good “little” rhythm in April, he got hurt and then came back and pressed a little bit. But he seems past that now.
I think he’s going to have a great May. Hopefully the fans will be patient with him.
I see what you’re saying Danny, but just because Jose isn’t hitting the ball in the air doesn’t mean he’s hitting it hard. I’ve seen 80-90% of his AB’s this year, and I can only think of a handful where I thought he really stung the ball.
Obviously, it’s grreat that he’s hitting more GB’s and can take addvantage of his speed. Making that adjustment may be why he’s struglling at the plate, but that doesn’t explain his struggles in the field. He’s made 5 errors already, and that doesn’t include bone-headed plays like not covering 2nd in a rundown.
I hope you’re righht about him having a big May, but I’m more than a little concerned.
But he’s hitting more line drives. I have watched most of his at-bats and think he has hit into hard outs more than just a handful of times.
How many groundballs have found an empty space for Reyes? I can remember one. He’s just not getting anything to fall.
More line drives
More groundballs
Higher HR%
less flyballs
less popouts
And yet his BABIP is 35 points lower than last year. It won’t continue. We all just overreact every time Reyes hits a ball in the air unless it’s for extra bases.
I’m sorry but that rundown play was not his fault and dont understand anyone thinking that it was. The ball was down the leftfield line, anyone who knows anything, knows that the sortstop goes into the outfield along the line to line himself up for a cutoff. Pagan turned around and threw the ball to second. Reyes did what everyone would do and thats turn to see the play at second. Even if he took off for second as soon as Castillo caught the ball, Castillo ran at the runner and threw the ball to Delgado before Reyes could even get halfway to the bag. The blame is squarely on Castillo who should have known nobody was there to cover the base. He should have “walked” the runner back toward Delgado until Carlos was close enough to catch the ball and make the tag in one motion. At least walking would have given someone a chance to get to second if the rundown were to continue.
If the wine is good the year before and this year it’s vinegar, do you blame the grapes?
If Reyes is underperforming, you could either look at the player or the coaching staff. It is easy to replace a player if he is the problem. If the team underperforms, then possible it’s not the grapes…
I have confidence in the grapes. The winemaker doesn’t know what to do.
I get it…
But Jose’s struggles are definitely cause for concern. When I watch them play, he is pretty much a non-factor. He sulks too much. If he doesn’t get on base in his first at-bat, his head is out of the game. That’s the only explanation I have for a ton of 0-for 5’s and a 5-5 sprinkled in.
He needs to keep his head in the game. Bottom line. So, in this case, I think it’s the grapes.
But a manager has to know how to keep that player out of that. These are grown men but it’s clear that Jose has that problem and it’s Willie’s job to keep that from happening. That is the main role of a manager. The x’s and o’s are all grey areas that could go either way but no matter what motivation is the manager’s job.
I don’t doubt that Willie is trying. He benched the guy for his loss of focus and not hustling. I just think that Reyes has a ton of growing up to do as a major league player. The shame in this is he has all the talent in the world, but with this attitude, I don’t think we’ll ever see it in full bloom.
I don’t think Willie is perfect, matter of fact, I am starting to think he needs to go. That is after I have supported him up until now. However, I don’t think his dealing with Reyes has been detrimental at all. You can’t say Willie was good for Reyes and Wright in 2006, but bad for them now. Can’t have it both ways. I’m almost certain Willie’s approval rating was around 9.7 in 2006. Jerome from Manhattan was probably his only detractor.
>>> The shame in this is he has all the talent in the world, but with this attitude, I don’t think we’ll ever see it in full bloom.
I wouldn’t go that far. First, he’s still young. David Wright is a freak of nature in his maturity at such a young age, and Reyes suffers by comparison. Reyes is still the same age as a typical MLB rookie.
Second, by all accounts, Reyes is genuinely beloved by his teammates. I don’t think that would be the case if he had an attitude.
Reyes plays the game with a childlike enthusiasm that masks how hard he competes and how dedicated he is. Remember when everyone was killing Willie for being too stupid to realize Reyes “will never be a leadoff hittter”? Well, he’s increased his walks each year - from 27 to 53 to 77 (and he was on pace for 100 before his second half slump). Can you recall another player in history whose plate discipline improved that much that fast?
A player who lacks dedication and who’s not 100 percent committed to improving himself would never have pulled that off.
Hate to say it, but I think HoJo needs to be taken out of the Hitting Coach role. Team has done nothing since he took the position over.
I have been saying this since mid-April. This offense has been anemic….for a while now.
Yup, not a bad guy but I am not sure he gets into the head of any of the players.
I vote for Rudy from Texas as the new manager, that way we get the best of both worlds.
Thank you for these stats on Reyes. I knew he had been bad, but not that bad. It’s troubling. His head seems up his rear end lately. I think it has nothing to do with whether he can do silly dances and handshakes. He’s got to bear down and realize he isn’t as good as he thinks he is. He is maybe the fourth best shortstop in the division — offensively and defensively — and a huge reason this team isn’t winning — much, much bigger than Delgado, I would say. I am majorly concerned.
You think he is the 4th best defensive SS in the division? Who is better?
Reyes is actually the best defensive SS in the division BY FAR. I know he has 5 errors, but small sample size alert. Sometimes having good range creates more chances to make errors, which is why errors are such a horrible way to determine who is good and not good (it’s a piece of a larger pie).
Rollins winning the Gold Glove was a joke.
Hanley Ramirez is the worst defensive SS in all of baseball. He makes Jeter look good. Of course, he is young and athletic and has the potential to get better.
Yunel Escobar is older than Reyes, by the way. Everyone is so hard on his jock for some reason, but he’s decent defensively and had a few good months offensively last year. We’ll see what his real deal is.
By the way, Reyes smoked Rollins in 2006. Rollins was better last year. Reyes is a bunch younger. I don’t know why people think Rollins is necessarily better. Check out what he was doing at Reyes’ age.
agree with you for the most part. Rollins was easily better last year, but then so was Reyes in 2006. And right now, well, I’d rather have a guy who’s playing than a guy who’s on the DL. But that’s not really fair: if both were healthy this season, I’d rather have Rollins, but for the future, I’d much rather have Reyes.
Reyes lost his desire to play under Willie. And that is actually one of my major gripes as to why Willie needs to go. We need Reyes to be the catalyst, and I think Reyes is constantly on guard that everything he does is magnified and he will be made an example of by the manager. It all stems back to July 7, 2007 when he was benched. Was Willie right in benching him? Absolutely. Was Willie wrong in not benching the other players who didn’t run out the ball? Absolutely, as well. But the trend with the double-standards even continued this year. Same inning, Reyes throws home instead of getting 2, Willie gets on him. Delgado forgets to how to play 1st and Willie gives him a pass. You think Jose likes/respects Willie? Reyes is just going through the motions right now…and that is your problem.
Don’t buy that he lost his desire to play. Reyes just does not know how to get out of a slump and that IS one of Willie’s jobs and he should be held accountable for it. However, to say Reyes has lost his desire is to ignore that happy face that he gets when HE does well and the sad puppy face he gets when HE does poorly.
In Willie’s defense (I can’t believe I just said that), getting him out of a slump should be more HoJo’s job than Willie’s, no?
If it is mechanics yes, mental no.
If you think its mental, from this comment and the one below, then why can’t it be that he is still in some way sulking over the benching last year. That is when his slide began. Someone had the stats on here yesterday and his numbers really went down from July forward. (the benching was July 7).
Because he is not sulking when he does well. He is smilling and having a good time then.
Thats fair. I still think the benching is in the back of his mind…but your point is well taken. How about we just get rid of Willie and test the theories? :-)
Agree completely. However, if we get rid of Willie hopefully we would be arguing which factor made Reyes play better.
I couldn’t agree more. Let’s remember that even though this is his 4th big league season, Reyes is a KID. He’s still just 24. As someone else pointed out, Yunel Escobar is older.
Let’s also remember Reyes has never failed before. Sure, he struggled when he first came up, but he improved in his second full year and was improving again in his third until he slumped in the second half. Now he’s facing his first extended struggle and he’s not sure how to right the ship. You can see it on his face, how much it’s killing him. He’s clearly pressing - jumping at pitches instead of trusting his hands, taking extra time to set his feet instead of just fielding the ball and throwing.
Not to sound like Ron Darling (although there are a lot worse people to sound like), but I believe Jose will learn something about himself during this process and emerge as a much better player.
That said, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned.
For some reason, this post wound up down here. I clearly do not agree with the comments right in front of this one. Sorry for any confusion…
I agree that Willie has done a poor job of reaching Reyes. I don’t think Reyes is just “goign through the motions”.
I do think that we miss Manny Acta when Reyes struggles. His constant optimism is really missed in these parts.
The errors, the swinging at the first pitch, the slower-times seen by scouts running to first…these are signs that to me say he is going through the motions(…and he’s not the only Met.)
I think you are overanalyzing what you think are flaws in his game.
Reyes is hitting more line drives, less fly balls and more groundballs than last year. They’re just finding gloves.
There’s not always some huge psychological reason behind the ball finding the fielder’s gloves a few more times than they probably should.
It’s bad luck more than anything.
I still think there is some mental problems there however. He just hangs his head too much when he does poorly.
How about the errors on routine grounders that really weren’t as prevalent last year? And the slower-times as reported by Jon Heyman yesterday? I’m not arguing…I just think there is more to this than bad luck.
Because he is experiencing a prolonged bout of failure. It’s tough to handle. DW was doing this in April last year. He needs a hot month.
Heck, he completely snapped out of it this April with a hot week, he was bouncing around like Reyes and being crazy, and then he tweaked his hammy and got out of it a little bit.
He just needs some balls to start falling for him.
I agree with your last post completely Danny. If Reyes would have a hot home or road series he would be out of the slump and would be back. However, the next time he slumps he will be right back in. That is just Reyes right now.
He’s an emotional player. Hopefully he levels out a little bit as he gets older.
Errors tend to happen in bunches. I live in DC and I know that Reyes has taken some at-bats to the field because I saw it there.
He’s just really frustrated right now. He’s doing a lot of things right and not experiencing the success he should. And he’s still feeling a lot of pressure because of September 2007.
He just needs a great month and I am fully confident that he will be off and running. He needs some positive momentum.
And Willie is doing a really crappy job of coaxing him through this tough time, because he sucks.
AGain, agree completely.
Just wanted to point something out: since that 8 game winning streak (with Reyes in the lineup), he batted .333 with a .368 OBP, which wasn’t very good, he only took 2 walks in 39 plate appearances. Since then, he’s only hitting .190, but has a .292 OBP, with 6 walks in 48 PA’s. So at least his walk rate is up, which is encouraging. Now he just needs to start doing both at the same time! By the way, his career month-by-month numbers:
March/April: .279/.339/.451, 8 HR, 38 SB (412 AB)
May: .265/.323/.401, 4 HR, 28 SB (359 AB)
June: .278/.318/.413, 7 HR, 38 SB (446 AB)
July: .306/.335/.418, 5 HR, 47 SB (519 AB)
August: .302/.349/.480, 17 HR, 57 SB (506 AB)
September: .250/.305/.371, HR, 32 SB (380 AB)
So basically, he hits better as the weather gets warm, and then gets worse when it starts to cool down again. If I’m not mistaken, that 8 game stretch where he was on fire was a particularly warm stretch, no? Maybe that’s all this is - he needs warm weather to hit well. Let’s give him some time. (By the way, his August #’s are phenomenal, in 119 games. That’s a 25 HR 70 SB season…if he could hit the whole year like he hits in August he’d be Rickey Henderson)
We’ve had a Reyes poll, we’ve had a Delgado poll, for god’s sake we’ve had a Booing poll…
Can we please get some semblance of a Willie poll? Its been a month. That’s a fair assessment, no? Avoiding it altogether now just seems more like we are tryng to cover something up.
didnt that 8 game winning streak, and good play from jose come when church was in the 2 hole?