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Hanley Ramirez is the only starting shortstop in the National League to committ more errors this season than Jose Reyes.
However, at the plate, Reyes is on pace to 
hit roughly .290, with 20 home runs, 70 RBI, 15 triples, 40 doubles, 120 runs scored and 55 stolen bases, which is essentially the exact-same season he had in 2006.
As you may recall from 2006, the last shortstop to hit .300 with 50 stolen bases, 20 doubles, 15 triples and 10 home runs was Honus Wagner in 1908 for the Pirates.
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Even though J-Rey’s error total is up, he is still having an excellent season. He’s striking the ball again, and playing with that old energy, in a city that can gobble up its stars. One of the few A’s on the team, though if there was an A- option, he might have gotten that from me, if only for the errors.
We definitely need a grade between A and B ’cause that’s exactly where Jose is. I’d like to see him walk more and keep his focus on the defensive side of things. I think his base running awareness has deteriorated some (or maybe hasn’t progressed) which I think we all expected. But I’m glad Jose is being Jose…
Right now, the only thing keeping me from giving him an A is the Defense.
To me, April seems like a continuation of last season’s late slump (similar to with Wright endured in April ‘07)…Looking at his numbers since May, and he has been a world beater. I really can’t ask for anything more on the offensive side of things. Next to Hanley, is certainly the best hitting SS in the NL this season…Not sure about the entire MLB, because I haven’t researched AL SS’s, but its not a stretch to say that he is among the top 4 hitting SS’s in 2008. The defense just needs to get better. He is very talented with the glove, and given his skill set, his error total is unacceptable.
Matt, whoever gave him an “F” should be removed from the blog. We have non Met fan’s voting.
He seems a tad out of control emotionally. I have no problem with that, as long as it doesn’t weigh on him in the long run.
Sometimes as hitter, the best thing to do, is stay even-keel.
I know of a recently fired manager who shares that philosophy. (not that you should be fired)
A without a doubt. This team would be fighting for the cellar with nationals, instead of fighting for third with the braves if we had anyone else in the lead off spot.
I totally agree.
Based solely upon stats he would get an A…..however, his mental lapses this season…particularly while running the bases lower that to a B+ in my book.
I don’t have a problem w/ the tantrums…..he can do whatever the hell he wants as long as he hits and plays smart.
I gave him an A, but I totally agree with you…too many brainfarts from him so far.
Agreed, but it all depends on the scale. Is this relative to the rest of the league, or relative to reasonable expectations for Reyes?
overall performance: rest of the league
brainfarts: what I expect from reyes (fair or not).
I don’t see the rest of the league as much as JR, obviously, so for all I know every player out there makes those mistakes. It just seems like (and I wish there was a way to quantify this, so I could take “seems” out of the equation), after more than five years in the majors, he shouldn’t be making them, or at least not as frequently as it seems this year. Like I said, this could totally be a result of supersaturation (my expectations), but…there it is.
My grade a B, simply for the frustrating times where jumps out too early in the count and pops the ball up to the SS. He has a much better sense of the strike zone now (don’t see him waving at dueces in the dirt much anymore), so I think he should be confident in his quick hands and wait for his pitch. Not many guys are going to beat him anymore, and the more pitches you see, the better chance to see a mistake.
It was hard for me to grade reyes. He would be a C+ or B- for me. The guy can be great but has to be more consistant and work a count. If he can solve that in the second half he can definatly jump up a whole grade in my book. Also cut down on the errors.
C+ Dirty? That’s a bit rough on Jose… it can’t all be on him…he’s gotta be a solid B at the least….
Hahaha, seriously, a lead-off guy on track to score 120 runs on a team full of slumping hitters? I think Reyes’ main problem is he’s spoiled his fans.
Its tough love lol. I really like the kid and ive seen him(as we all have) when he is doing everything right. Just want to see him work on sustaining that over a longer period of time in the second half. I have no doubts he will be able to do it.
Dirty it sorta sounds like you lowered his grade based on an assumption that he’s going to slump in the 2nd half like he did last year…and if he continues to hit like he has, and plays as well as he did in 2006, you’re going to go all the way to B+?
I wonder what grade you gave him back in ‘06 when 70% of the lineup wasn’t a cavernous black hole of non-offense…
I lowered my grade of him because he can be pretty streaky at times. If he were a little more consistant he would be a B at this point in my book, but I feel he isnt that consistant as he can/should be. I dont think nor expect reyes to slump in the 2nd half like last year because around that time hes going to feel like he has something to prove this year. If he puts up 06 numbers i would say B+ or even A would be appropriate. I wasnt on this blog in 06
If he puts up ‘06 numbers, Dirty, he’d deserve an A+. 1908, Honus Wagner? I mean, seriously…
Weclome back Matt — glad to see you are feeling well enough to blog and post — thankfully it was not a finger
ps… welcome back Matt
I don’t get why people ragged on him so much for last season, saying stuff like “hes no ‘06 Reyes.” Yes he was awful that last few months of the season, but he still ended up with almost the exact same numbers as 2006 in the ‘07 season. It was just that he had a couple less hits and a little less power.
As for this season, other than struggling at the start hes been great, especially last month. I’m anticipating another solid month and rest of the year out of him.
I am usually a tough grader, but I think I need to give him the A. His production is carrying this team. Also his personality gives this team life. Who will ever forget last year when he instigated that fight with Olivo. (I think it was him)
Without Jose this team is no where. A+++++.
Note: Noone else on this team will be receiving the A rating unless someone throws a perfect game in the next day
“Who will ever forget last year when he instigated that fight with Olivo. (I think it was him)” Classic. Great, just great.
Translation: “I bought a Reyes jersey”
Does the fact that he would trade his illustrious baseball career in an instant to become a world renowned reggaetone superstar play any part in the voting here?
Wouldn’t you? It’s way better money and a much easier lifestyle…
touche zer
it’s the reason i gave him an A, Mr. Jones…
I gave him an A but the more I think about it probably should been a B. He’s been disappointing on defense.
my grade is an A. he is the only person keeping us alive in this race. without him we would be close to last.
I gave him an F because he’s to immature and not professional enough.
Nice.
and this is why most players can’t play for the mets……idiot racists such as yourself….
Where did he mention race? Must have missed it.
Anyway, the guy gave him an F to get comments like yours. Here we go again. DO. NOT. FEED. THE. TROLLS.
he’s CLEARLY being sarcastic people…come on…
It’s not clear. Statements like that made in all seriousness are par for the course on Metsblog. . . .. And I have to say, he’s a troll either way — trying to antagonize.
Do you even watch baseball? Or just read tabloid crap?
Totally agree. They’d be in first if they just ditched him and let Delgado lead off.
Very poor start, has had a rather odd season defensively, and a few unexpected brain farts on the base pads from a guy who I always felt was a solid baserunner.
All that being said, Reyes has SERIOUSLY picked up his game since the end of April. And he hasn’t been a stat compiler either. For two months now, he has been a near perfect lead off hitter. All I wanna see out of him from here on forward is consistency.
Continue to be that spark plug at the top and hopefully the rest of the team will follow suit. Continue to improve his baserunning and not make silly mental errors. And continue to improve defensively. Just because he is a natural wizard in the field, doesn’t mean that he can’t reevaluate his technique and make some adjustments that might just help him to be an even better fielder.
I would give him an A-, but I don’t think it’s fair to give him a solid B. So I feel confident in grading him a well deserved A.
Very close to an A. I would say B +. Reyes and the Mets need to keep putting the pressure on the other teams. I want to see more hit and run with this team. Make the other team play on their heels.
I gave him the ‘A’, even though if his defense doesn’t improve he might slip from that A for me….
Reyes is almost the complete package. He hits, and not just the occasional single, he can get the ball out of the park now and then, balls hit to the gap are a guaranteed double, if not triple. He’s got speed on the bases. His defense is a little shaky this year but I hope to see an improvement in that area.
If Jose is up at bat, I’ll put off going to the fridge, walk the dog, etc. just to see what he’s gonna do…..
Watching him go from home to third, watching the physical act of him shifting into 6th gear, is still is one of the most exciting things in baseball, IMO. Usually followed by a head-first slide and a single enthusiastic clap while he speaks to himself in some kind of incomprehensible dialect. Can’t beat it.
Ha, nice description.
i gave him an A. who cares if he is immature. is it hurting his game? No, he is hitting very well. defensively he is loosing focus which can easily be fixed. and the rbis wright gets is mainly because of reyes because reyes always gets from first to third somehow by the time wright comes up. the guy has been playing well of late.
He’s still awesome defensively. His ability to make ridiculous plays seem easy hurts him in the highlight real, and therefore int he court of public opinion.
I gave him an “A,” and think that with a bit more focus and maturity, he could be beyond “A”, into Seussian letters.
The best, and most consistent player on the team…As I’ve said before and I’ll say it again.
C+ for me, only because I expect more from someone this talented. Jose should always be A or a B+ . I just can’t overlook the mental errors and the inconsistency on defense.
Offensively Jose numbers are also down a good bit when you compare them to the first half last year. Now, before everyone goes balistic, that does not mean his numbers suck. It just means he is not doing as well as last year.
Also, I was hoping he would start to get more baseball sense. Like when to run, and more importantly when NOT to run. When to get a good secondary lead on second, and again when NOT to. When to work a pitcher more, and see a few more pitchers. His aggressiveness I like, but lead off hiters do have a role.
I’m not going to go down the emotional roller coaster road, as that really doesn’t bother me one way or another, so long as he respects the game and his team mates.
I’ve said it before and will say it again. More time spent working on proper throwing and fielding fundamentals, and less time developing handshakes would certainly make me happier.
blah blah….the only ‘ respect for the game’ any player should concern themselves with is playing the game hard. This Mets team has had a problem with that all year around.
Proper throwing and fielding fundamentals?
The whole team of late seems as if they need a crash course on this…
C+ is absolutely ludicrous.
a-/b+ in the least.
Less error and he is a B.
Number like he put up in the first half of last year, or a better start this year, or smarter running and he is an A.
I did not down grade him based on the emotional side of things, because like I said “I don’t care”.
If you are on pace to lead the league, or close to it, in errors then you don’t deserve an A. I want him to be an A. He certainly has the ability, and I do think he is hands down one of the most exciting players in the game.
His numbers are not down from last year. His batting average, walks, and stolen bases may be down a bit, but the doubles and home runs are up. So while he was getting on base more at this time last year and hitting a lot of singles, he is hitting much more extra base hits this year and driving in more runs.
These were the numbers as of yesterday.
2008 Numbers:
.292 BA
.354 OBP
28 SB 8 CS
60 Runs
34 RBI’s
2007 1st Half
.307 BA
.387 OBP
46 SB 11 CS
61 Runs
35 RBI’s
There is a good bit of difference in OBP, BA and SB.
A few more random first half 2007/2008 splits:
2008:
9 HR
20 2B
45 SO
.474 SLG
2007:
4 HR
17 2B
46 SO
.439 SLG
Yes his dingers and doubles are up, which also pushes up his slugging percentage. Notice though how he doesn’t have more runs or RBI’s. Granted, he can’t be responsible for nobody ahead of him getting on base. I just think that if he would have had last years numbers in BA and OBP and the 18 more steals then we would have won several more games.
Please don’t misunderstand. I’m not down on Jose, I just expect more.
B for me, would have been a B+ or maybe an A- if they were available.
IMO to get a solid A you need not to be a competitor for the most errors in the NL. You also have to take some points off for the attitude. That play a few games ago where he air-balled the throw to first and then threw a fit, seemingly at Delgado, was just not appropriate.
jesus. he didn’t airball anything to delgado!
delgado has made that very same play, and several other difficult throws, hundreds of times before. Delgado should have fielded that with relative ease.
And I’m so tired of this ‘attitude’ business’.
This is NY dammit! Let’s draft Mormons from here on out.
It’s so kindergarten! Let’s grade players on good behavior…
jeez.
The day he gets anything lower than an A from me is the day he learns to properly call them the yankees.