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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