Jose Reyes Enjoying Superb Season (Photo Credit: Flickr @MissChatter via Creative Commons license)

 

Jose Reyes is leading one of the Major League's hottest hitting baseball teams of late.

But the New York Mets' leadoff hitter and shortstop is hoping the best is still to come, despite straining his left hamstring Saturday vs. the Yankees. Reyes will sit out of the lineup until he is more confident of his health..

Reyes had two hits with a run scored in last Wednesday's 16-9 victory for the Mets over the Detroit Tigers to expand his team's winning streak to four. He has also played a key role in helping the Mets score 52 runs in that four-game stretch though Wednesday, establishing a new club record.

"It's good to see, everybody is contributing right now," Reyes said. "When you have a team like that, you win a lot of games. Hopefully we can continue that."

Prior to that game, the sizzling Reyes had two straight four-hit games.

"I'll take two any time," he said. "It's better to have four but I'll take two."

Recently, Reyes played his 1,000th Major League game. He has 98 career triples and 361 stolen bases through Wednesday.

The only player with as many triples and stolen bases in his first 1,000 games is the legendary Ty Cobb, who had 106 triples and 391 stolen bases by the time he reached 1,000 games. Also on Tuesday, Reyes gained his 15th triple of the season and the 98th of his career.

"I want to continue to get better," he said. "I want to continue working hard. We're in third place but we''ll continue to play our game and take it one at a time. We're playing good baseball right now."

"We don't hit too many home runs," he said. "We have to use the speed we have."

Reyes leads the majors with 119 hits, 41 multi-hit games and 15 triples going into last weekend. He was also leading the National League with a .349 overall batting average, 65 runs scored and a .366 batting average against righthanded pitchers. He's second in the majors in stolen bases.

He's having his best season for the Mets since joining the club and making his Major League debut in 2003. His best batting average as a fulltime player was .300 in 2006.

Reyes seems to be setting the tone for the Mets attack with his consistent hitting.

"I just try to do my job, get on base and make things happen right away," he said. "We've had quality at bats. We don't give anything away. Right now, we're playing very good baseball."

"Jose's been doing it all year for us," Reyes said.

He admitted going into Thursday's game that he was looking forward to facing Tiger ace Justin Verlander.

"I can't wait," Reyes said. "He's one of the best pitchers in the game. We'll go there and see what happens. But we'll go in with the same attitude we have in the last couple of games. We'll come out and play our game."

Reyes said it was "hard to say" which league, American or National, had the toughest pitching. But the Mets have been feasting on American League pitching recently.

Meanwhile, Reyes has been the subject of some trade rumors but he indicated he's not paying attention.

"I'm doing what I do best, just play the game," he said. "There's lot of stuff going on outside this clubhouse. But we don't worry about that. We worry about taking care of business on the field."

Reyes has made two All Star game appearances for the National League and is expected to be selected for the squad again this year.

The Mets are still in third place in the National League's East Division and are behind first-place Philadelphia and second-place Atlanta.

"This is the best we've been playing all year," said outfielder Angel Pagan. "We're looking forward to winning more games and staying over .500. We have a job to do. We have to keep winning games."

 

Mets star Jose Reyes placed in 15-day DL with injured hamstring

New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes was placed in the 15-day disabled list and is expected to be sidelined for three weeks after injuring his left hamstring.

The 28-year-old Reyes suffered a left hamstring injury during a game against the New York Yankees on July 2. The move to the DL is retroactive to July 3.

"I'm disappointed because I want to be on the field," Reyes said to reporters before the Mets' game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The shortstop did not play since the injury and apparently the conditioning drills he underwent during the week were not working.

Reyes' injury is a big blow for the Mets, who will miss their most productive slugger this season.

The Dominican infielder is having a phenomenal season in the final year of his current deal, batting .354 with 3 homers, 32 RBIs, and 124 hits.

He was voted as the starting shortstop for the NL All-Stars, but the injury will certainly keep him out of the Mid-Summer Classic for the third time. However, Reyes assured he will attend the All-Star game like he did in 2009 and 2010.

Meanwhile, The Mets called up corner infielder Nick Evans from Triple-A Buffalo to fill Reyes' spot on the roster.

 

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