Mets: Jose Reyes’ stuggles continue; Terry Collins looking for solutions

Jose Reyes‘ early 2017 struggles continued in last night’s win over the Phillies, as he went 0-4 while striking out twice. With yesterday’s hitless game, Reyes’ average has dropped to .037.

Mets shortstop Jose Reyes clearly looks out of place right now. He seems extremely uncomfortable at the plate, and appears to be very impatient. Reyes has already struck out in a third of his at bats this season, and has been swinging at awful pitches.

Additionally, as the SNY booth mentioned in yesterday’s broadcast, even the balls that he does hit in play are not hard hit balls, and it is not like there is just bad luck against him.

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Instead, the balls that Reyes has hit in play have been very playable weak ground balls. The question at this point is what to do with Reyes as he looks lost, and whether or not to rest him. Reyes has rested just once this season, but it did not appear to have an effect on him. Since he was rested against the Miami Marlins, Reyes has gone 0-8.

In yesterday’s postgame press conference, Terry Collins addressed to the media stating that he has “got the FBI looking for the real Jose Reyes… He’s being held someplace”.  In other words, the Amazins’ skipper is saying that he has faith in Reyes, and knows that he has the potential to do better than that. Additionally, by saying “he’s being held someplace,” Collins is showing he believes that the “real” Jose Reyes has yet to appear, and when he does, he will regain his confidence, discipline, and talent at the plate.

More significantly, Collins’ choice of words were perhaps not the best, given Reyes’ domestic violence issue last year. Collins speaking about the FBI is troublesome, given the fact that the FBI did investigate in Reyes’ case last year, which included him slamming his girlfriend against a glass door in Hawaii following the 2015 season.

While Reyes has apologized and shown remorse, it was not the most clever idea for Collins to bring it back up, especially with domestic violence issues against closer Jeurys Familia this past offseason.

Terry Collins also stated last night that he does not intend on giving Reyes rest, and would prefer he plays through the slump. The positive from this is that Reyes will still be given the at bats, and will just have to play through it, with the hope that eventually Reyes will break through the slump.

However, if Reyes, who is 33 and past his prime, continues to hit below .100, while still in the lineup, then it would just be detrimental to other players seeking playing time, such as Wilmer Flores.

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That’s not to say that Reyes should be benched for the next week, but instead maybe give him a couple days off to clear his mind. If that were to happen, then Flo can show off his true hitting potential, and has shown some pop already, after he hit a home run in the series against the Marlins.

For now, we will just have to hope for the best from Reyes, and have trust in TC.