José Reyes, when healthy, is possibly the most exciting player in all of baseball. He provides speed, outstanding defense at shortstop, has a rifle for an arm, and is a hitting machine. As a leadoff hitter, he’s the Mets’ offensive catalyst. He can steal a base, hit a triple, and is generally a pain for opposing pitchers behind. It also makes groundballs like Mike Pelfrey better with their Gold Glove defense on short. An overactive thyroid problem leaves you unconscious for the next two to eight weeks. How will the Mets fare until their return?
His absence will hurt more than Beltran’s injury for the reasons listed above. Alex Cora and 20-year-old shortstop Rubén Tejada AA will not be able to offer the same defense and offense as Reyes. Cora will make plays hit directly at him, but it won’t be the vacuum of ground balls to the left side of the box like Reyes is. The infield defense will be a big question mark for the Mets until he returns.
The offense won’t be the same without Reyes either, whether he was in the # 1 spot or the # 3 hole, as Jerry Manuel planned until Beltran returns in May. This makes Angel Pagán the leader and Cora the # 8 hitter through May or June, making the lineup much weaker outside of hole # 3 to # 6. The runs will probably be easier than last summer, but don’t look for offensive numbers from 2006. Add to that questionable rotation and bullpen, the Mets could be in trouble until May or June.
The good news is that Reyes’ condition only requires rest and he should be back around May or, in the worst case, June. That, along with Beltran’s return in May, will give the Mets one of the best lineups in the National League if everyone else is healthy. However, the rotation and bullpen have a lot of question marks, so I predict the Mets won’t make the play-offs this year, but they should finish at 500 or higher.
Here’s a speedy recovery for the speedy Reyes, the Mets will miss his absence.
