Kuzul

Since we are past the quarter way mark of the season, it is now time that we can say something is definitively wrong with Jose Reyes.

Reyes has never had a batting average lower than .255. That was during his second season in the majors, when Jose was just 21. Now, at age 27, he is hitting .222.

Reyes has posted a -0.9 WAR up until this point in the season. This means that through this point in the season, Reyes has had less value to the Mets than an average Triple-A player would have.

However, the difficulty is in attempting to figure out what is wrong with Jose.

Could it be the fact that he was uncomfortable hitting third in the lineup? Could it be that he has not fully recovered from hamstring surgery? Could it be that he is still feeling the effects of his hyperactive thyroid? Or is it a combination of all three?

Reyes has led off in 20 games this year and also batted third in 20 games this year. He has posted a .237 BA with a .290 slugging percentage from the leadoff spot. He has struggled even more from the third spot in the lineup, hitting only .207 with a .280 slugging percentage.

Based on his splits from the different spots in the lineup, we can see that batting third is not the major cause of his struggles.

The next thing to look at would be to see if Jose is fully recovered from his hamstring surgery. Jose has been able to steal nine bases in 10 attempts. While he is not running as much as he has in the past, his success rate allows us to conclude that he is most likely not feeling any lingering effects from his surgery.

Doctors have said that Jose’s thyroid levels returned to a normal level on March. Jose only missed the first week of the season due to the imbalance, so this could not have contributed to his struggles.

However, Jose did miss most of spring training due to this. He was placed in extended spring training and faced minor league pitching. Could it be that Jose was overmatched once he rejoined the Mets?

While this may have been an issue for the first few weeks of the season, it cannot explain his continued struggles.

Over the last two weeks, Jose has played in 13 games and has posted a measly .190 batting average. If he had any issues from missing spring training, surely they would have been solved by now.

Clearly, there is something else that is wrong with Jose Reyes—and if the Mets stand any chance of making the playoffs, they need to find out what it is.

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When the New York Mets traded for Johan Santana, he was supposed to be the staff ace. He was for his first two years on the team.

Santana is still one of the better pitchers in the league, but he has had some struggles recently. Many are hesitant to continue to call him an ace.

Since Santana joined the team, Mike Pelfrey’s pitching has significantly improved. Surely, some of it has to do with Santana’s mentoring. More of it has to do with Pelfrey coming into his own.

Santana has posed a 3-2 record with a 3.72 ERA through nine starts this year. Pelfrey meanwhile has a 6-1 record with a 2.86 ERA through nine starts. However these are some of the most debated stats when it comes to a pitchers level of success.

If we go and look at some advanced stats we can see that Pelfrey is the true ace of the staff. Since 2008, Santana’s strikeout rate has declined from 7.91 K/9 to 7.11 K/9. Pelfrey’s strikeout rate has increased from 4.93 K/9 to 6.19 K/9 during that same time period.

Pelfrey has been able to prevent hitters from hitting long balls. Mike allows only .48 HR/9. Compare this to Santana who allows nearly one home run per nine innings (.98 HR/9). This low home run rate is part of what allows Pelfrey to keep the number of runs allowed down.

Batters are hitting .249 with a .289 batting average on balls in play. While Pelfrey has allowed hitters to bat .253, he has been slightly more unlucky has hitters have a .297 batting average on balls in play.

Pelfrey has been able to buckle down better than Santana with runners on base. Pelfrey has left 80.5 percent of men on base while Santana has only left 72.9 percent on base. This is integral to Pelfrey’s success. He is able to limit the damage done by other teams by performing under this pressure.

Since ERA is one of the most questioned metrics in baseball, we can take a look at the pitchers xFIP. This is their expected fielding independent ERA. Pelfrey posts a 4.01 xFIP while Santana’s xFIP is 4.13.

Another stat we can look at instead of ERA is ERA+. In this case, the higher the better. Pelfrey has an ERA+ of 142 and Santana has an ERA+ of 112.

Pelfrey is clearly a pitcher who is improving. Santana appears to be on a slight decline. By the end of the year it should be obvious: Pelfrey will be the ace of the staff.

This will most likely be debated due to Santana’s past, but when you look at all the facts, Mike Pelfrey is the best pitcher the Mets have.

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When looking at the Mets this year, fans can see there is one thing they truly lack: charisma.

Jerry Manuel is known for his laid back attitude and approach to the game. So far this has been terribly unsuccessful. He has a 147-152 record since taking over as Mets manager midway through the 2008 season. Mediocrity is not acceptable in New York.

The Mets need a charismatic manager who brings fire and passion to the game. The team needs to be energized. The perfect manager for the job is Bobby Valentine.

If you watch Baseball Tonight, you can see Valentine’s love of the game. It is fairly obvious that Valentine would love to manage in the majors again.

A lasting image from his stint as manager of the Mets occurred when he was ejected from a game and came back an inning later in sunglasses and a fake mustache. This shows dedication to the team. Valentine wanted to be out there to help the team regardless of the consequences. When asked about the incident, Valentine said he did it to lighten up the team.

Anyone who has seen the documentary The Zen of Bobby V, cannot question Valentine’s passion. He understands the game of baseball. Fans of the Chiba Lotte Marines, the Japanese he managed, practically worshiped Valentine. Valentine brings a positive aura to the teams he coaches.

While Bobby Valentine is a character, he is also able to bring managerial skills with him. No other manager would have been able to lead the 2000 Mets to the National League pennant.

The 2000 roster had a starting outfield of Benny Agbayani, Jay Payton and Derek Bell. Mike Bordick, Todd Zeile and the immortal Bubba Trammel were also on the roster.

The starting rotation featured Glendon Rusch, Rick Reed, and Bobby Jones, all of whom had an ERA over 4.00 during the regular season.

In spite of all of this, Bobby Valentine was able to lead the Mets to a World Series appearance. Imagine what he could do with a roster featuring David Wright, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Jason Bay, Ike Davis, and Johan Santana.

Jerry Manuel with his laid back attitude is not the right choice for the Mets. However, the right choice is out there in Bobby V.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com