Jose Reyes’ recent resurgence fuels the Mets offense

Jose Reyes has been on fire at the plate.

Hitting safely in eight of his last nine games, and being on base in 10 straight games overall, Reyes has bumped his batting average to .186. Obviously that number is not ideal for Jose Reyes, however, considering he started the season 5-50 (.100), it’s a huge improvement in a short time.

Reyes looks a lot more confident at the plate, and his patience at bat has increased. Due to his composure at the plate, Reyes is now able to work deeper into at bats, and it has paid off.

For example, Reyes went 2-4 yesterday, and contributed 5 RBI in the Mets’ 16-run barrage. The more Reyes hits, the more his confidence is up, and the more his leadership role with the Mets is portrayed.

Last year, one of the reasons for the Mets success down the stretch was because of Reyes’ role — whether it was just the small stuff, such as the blonde hair trend, or the more important contributions, such as being a voice in the clubhouse.

However, in April, as the Mets lost many games and Reyes’ hitting woes continued, there was no fire in the clubhouse. When a player’s confidence is low, it’s hard to imagine them being so vocal on and off the field.

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Now that Reyes is hitting, so are the Mets, and it is not a coincidence. One reason for the Mets team struggles in April was because there was no clubhouse leader, and no one to fire them up during the game. Now that Reyes is playing well, he has been able to effectively bring fire to the team, and lead them to victory.

And while Reyes may not be his 2011 batting title self anymore, he still has enough in him to hit consistently and bring hope to a team that’s faced a lot of bad luck this year.