Reyes- Slump or more

There was a saying over the past two years " as Reyes goes so goes the Mets". During the 2006 season and the first half of this season the Mets offense was fueled by the "Most exciting player in baseball". Reyes was the electrifying lead off hitter that was the spark plug of the most potent offense in the National league, his youthful exuberance was celebrated as the exciting young face of baseball.

Something happened to Reyes somewhere around the the All-star break, initially it wasn't even noticeable but in hindsight it's clear the second half of this season is when Reyes' slide began. By Sept. everybody noticed that Reyes was in a terrible offensive slump. No longer was he patiently waiting on pitches and taking walks; he was swinging for the fences and popping up way too many balls instead of putting the ball in play on the ground to use his speed. All great players go through slumps David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Shawn Green and Carlos Delgado all had offensive slumps to some degree this year.

But what is more alarming is the mental errors that accompanied his plate performance. Jose seemed to lose the basic fundamentals of the game; missing ground balls that with his range he would have normally caught, being out of position at second base, not being in position as the cut off man, along with several other missed plays and throwing errors. Also during this stretch Jose made several errors on the base path getting thrown out on steals that were not recommended and his now infamous failure to run out ground balls.

His entire demeanor and attitude appeared to change, that youth exuberance I alluded to earlier was gone. Sure he smiled from time to time but he was seen much more often sulking in the corner of the bug out or refusing to take ground balls in between innings. Even when he wasn't pouting he appeared tired, my first impression was that the slump was really getting to him and the game just wasn't fun anymore.

In 2006 the Mets won 96 games and went to game seven of the NLCS, Jose Reyes played in 153 games in which he batted .300 with an OBP .354, Slg .487, 64 SB, 81 RBIs, 19 HRs.

Last year wasn't suppose to be a career year but instead a break out year.

But this year the Mets were two games short of the play-offs in which they went 1-6 in the last seven games of the season all of which were all at home against last place teams. In the month of Sept. Jose Reyes batted .205, OBP .279, Slg. .333, 11 BB, 15 SO, 8 RBIs he had 5 SB and was caught four times. Overall for the season Reyes batted .280, OBP .354 and Slg. .421.

I'm not writing this to pile on Jose, in fact I think it's obvious that he's the most important component of the offense. Several angry fans who are looking for someone to blame have even suggested Reyes be traded which I think is completely ridiculous. My thought is that the team needs to figure out what happened to Jose and help him get out of the rut he was in.

1. Was this just a slump that got into his head, effecting his all around game and attitude......


2. Did Baseball's version of the energizer bunny finally run out of gas and just needed to recharge...


3. Did his ego get out of control, became complacent and then couldn't get it back together...


4. Or was there something more serious going on........

There have been several insinuations around the blogosphere that have alluded to something more serious going on with Reyes. I hope they are completely wrong and it's just one of the first three reasons. While none of them are substantiated there are several reports out there and where there's smoke there's fire, it just can't be ignored.

Matt at Metsblog while completing an op-ed piece on Omar and the year the team had made the following comments.....

frankly, the loss of endy cannot be overstated…neither can the loss of Jose Valentin, who, from what i can gather, had a super-positive influence on reyes, who has been accused of breaking down mentally this season, either from exhaustion, a long pennant race, or, according to bouncers on Long Island, from partying way too much, none of which can be proven, but all of which seem plausible… source Metsblog

Matt at Metsblogs reporting on an interview with Omar on the WFAN by Mike and the Mad Dog. Where Omar fields a question about Castillo having a negitive impact on Reyes.

…the relationship between Luis Castillo and Jose Reyes, and whether it had a negative impact on Reyes…

“That’s news to me, as far as being out late with Reyes…As far as Reyes’s decline…I think there’s a combination of things, I think he got tired and part because Jose had never been through a pennant race and I do believe he got in to a rut and could not get out of it mentally and physically - and I’m pretty sure he started to press.” source Metsblog

John Delcos posted the following thread, throughout the thread he defended Reyes and called the accusations unfair and unfounded. The fact that he even addressed this shows the momentum this has gained....

In response to those who suggested it: Jose Reyes NEVER failed a drug test on any level. To say this is the cause for his second-half slide isn’t fair or responsible.

I wouldn’t speculate on this, and nobody I’ve spoken to with the Mets, even “off the record,’’ would acknowledge this as a cause. source John Delcos Lo Hud

Finally in Gotham Baseball Magazine a member by the screen name Brooklyn 42 had the following post....

The Reyes story may be the biggest one of all, but who knows ifit will ever get told. Some people (not me) on this very blog haveheard reports from sources--but how reliable?--that are prettyshocking and sad.

Follow -up...

I know this is a post, and I've more freedom thanwhen I worked in newspapers, but my consciencewon't let me say anything about Reyes other than this was reported--hearsay, but maybe a cut higher, soworth checking--as a personal problem. He hasn'theld up a bank, or at least to my knowledge. But...I'm sorry, I think it would be reckless for me tosay more, given the slim support for the info. source GBM-Brooklyn 42 -Stick a Fork in Them !!!