Jose Reyes (Part Three): The Return to New York (2016 - 2018)

2016 Mets Wild Card Season: After Jose Reyes served his suspension for domestic violence the Colorado Rockies optioned him to AAA & he was soon designated for assignment.

On June 25th, the Mets looking for some offensive help & an infielder to fill in for the injury plagued squad, signed Reyes to a highly publicized minor league contract. 

After a month of stints at A ball Brooklyn & AA Binghamton, the Met's announced Reyes was to be joining the big-league club at Citi Field.

Return to the Mets: On July 5, 2016, the animated Reyes, made his triumphant return to the Mets batting in his familiar lead off position. He got a big welcome ovation from the Mets fans as he was announced. Reyes went 0-4 that night in a 5-2 loss to the Marlins.

The next day Reyes hit a pair of doubles & scored a run in the Mets 4-2 win.

On July 7th, he hit his first HR of the season, it came in the three-run 4th inning helping the Mets in a 4-2 win over the Nationals.

Multi HR Game: On July 10th, Reyes led off the game with a HR off the Nat's Gio Gonzalez. He would hit two HRs off Gonzalez in the game, scoring both runs in the Mets 3-2 loss. 

It was the eighth multi-HR game of his career & his first in five years.

Reyes drove in runs in his next three games as well, finishing off July hitting safely in 13 of his first 16 games back, scoring nine runs.

In August he spent the first two weeks on the DL before returning on August 13th.

He came back to start a seven-game hit streak & hit safely in 13 of 18 games while scoring 16 runs. 

Four Hit Games: On August 19th he had a four-hit game in a loss in San Francisco & another four-hit game against the Marlins later that month. Reyes was the all-time Mets leader with 25 four hit games.

At the end of August, he had gotten his average up to .300. 

Reyes was getting credit for a sparking a Mets offense that had struggled from run production all season until his arrival. The Mets were in contention for a wild card spot with the Giants, Cardinals & Pirates.

In September during a successful Mets Road trip, Reyes hit HRs in back-to-back wins at Cincinnati, both coming in games where he collected two hits. In the first two weeks of September, Reyes had five multi-hit games. From September 3rd to September 12th, he scored at least one run in all eight games.

Lead Off HRs: On September 7th, he hit a leadoff HR off the Reds Anthony DeSclafani in Cincinatti. The HR was his 19th leadoff Mets HR, putting him ahead of Curtis Granderson for the franchise lead.

On September 16th, Reyes hit his 7th HR of the season, coming in a 3-0 Bartolo Colon, Addison Reed, Jeurys Familia, combined shut out of the Minnesota Twins.

Game Tying HR: On September 22nd, the Mets were in hot pursuit of the Wild Card race. In the bottom of the 9th inning, with the Mets down 6-4 to the Phillies, Reyes came up with Brandon Nimmo on base & one out. He hit a game tying HR off the Phils Jeanmar Gomez. 

In the top of the 11th, the Phillies scored two runs. In the bottom of the 11th, Michael Conforto walked & Reyes singled, setting the stage for e Asdrubal Cabrera's Walk off three run HR.

Multi- Four RBI Game: On September 25th Reyes had a two hit, four RBI Day in the Mets 17-0 blow out of the Phillies at Citi Field. He walked twice with the bases loaded & hit a two run double in the game.

Reyes closed out the year with a seven-game hit streak. In the final weekend the Mets clinched the Wild Card title, getting Reyes to the second post season of his career.

In 60 games with the 2016 Mets, Reyes sparked an offense in a good return to New York batting .267 with a .326 on base %. He collected 68 hits with 13 doubles 4 triples 8 HRs 24 RBIs & 45 runs scored. he posted a .326 on base % & .769 OPS.

Defensively he played 50 games at third base & 13 at short.

2016 Wild Card Game: In the NLWC Game, Reyes played third base & went 0-4 in the loss to the San Francisco Giants.

2017: Reyes started out 2017 as the Mets leadoff man & main third baseman. His pal & longtime Mets third baseman David Wright was out indefinitely with his back injury. 

Reyes had a terrible start to the year, after his first 18 games he was batting .095 with just five hits. He eventually lost his leadoff spot, with many folks questioning if he was done. 

On April 23rd, he started a hit streak where he hit safely in ten of eleven games, including five multi-hit games. On April 27th Jose hit his first HR of the year. 

On April 29th, he hit a 9th inning HR off the Nat's Shawn Kelley giving New York an insurance run in a 5-3 win in the Nation's Capital. 

On May 1st, the Mets made their first trip to Georgia to play in the Braves new ballpark. Reyes hit an 8th inning HR off Ian Krol, giving the Mets an insurance run in what was to be a 7-5 Met win.

Multi-Five RBI Day: On May 3rd, Reyes collected three hits & drove in five runs, matching his career best five RBI game. In the 3rd inning, he singled in a run facing former Met Bartolo Colon. In the 5th, he added a sac fly. In the 8th inning, with the bases loaded Reyes hit a three-run double, topping off the Mets 16-5, twenty hit romp over the Braves.

Criticism to Matt Harvey: In early May, Matt Harvey was suspended for failing to show up for a game the day before one of his scheduled starts. The situation became a highly publicized issue. Reyes also spoke out & was critical toward Harvey. 

2000th Career Hit: On May 20th he collected his 2000th career hit, a single off the Angels Alex Meyer at Citi Field. He joined 280 other MLB players who have reached that milestone. 

Multi HR Game: On June 19th he had a multi-HR game at Dodger Stadium, hitting a pair of HRs off Clayton Kershaw in a Mets loss.

Multi-Triples Game: On July 22nd, Reyes hit two triples in a 6-5 win at Citi Field over the Oakland A's. It was his ninth career multi-triple game, since 1950 only Willie Mays has more multi-triple games (10). 

10th Mets Multi-HR Game: On September 8th, Jose hit two HRs off the Reds Amir Garrett in a 5-1 Mets win. It was his tenth multi-HR game for the Mets tying Kevin McReynolds & Bobby Bonilla for the lead.

26th Career Four Hit Game: On September 19th, Reyes had his franchise leading 26th Mets career four hit game. He hit a HR off the Marlins Odrisamer Desaigne & drove in two runs in the 5-4 loss in South Florida.

That month, he hit 6 HRs with 18 RBIs hitting better than most players on a club going nowhere.

In 2017 he lead the club in games played (145) triples (7) & stolen bases (24). Jose was second with 123 hits & 25 doubles. He also hit 15 HRs with 58 RBIs & 75 runs scored while batting .246. He posted a .315 on base % & .728 OPS.

2018: In 2018 Reyes was at the end of his career & served more as a mentor to young short stop Amed Rosario. Jose played at short, second & third base. 

Final Career Stolen Base: On July 5th, at Citi Field, Reyes singled off the Padres Clayton Richard in the 5th inning. He then advanced to second base on Phillip Evans RBI hit. Reyes then stole the final base of his career #517, as he swiped third base in the Mets win.

It took him until mid-August to get over the .200 mark in batting. He closed out July with four straight games in which he drove in a run. 

Mets Leader In Multi HR Games: On August 1st, Reyes hit two HRs in a loss to the Nationals in D.C. It was his 11th Mets career multi-HR game putting first on the Mets all-time list.

That month was highlighted by three games where he hit triples & had also three multi-RBI games.

David Wright's Final Game: On September 29th, 2018, at Citi Field, Jose Reyes suited up alongside David Wright for Wrights' final career game. Reyes batted leadoff & hit a leadoff double to right field in what was the final hit of his own career. 

In the 5th inning, as Wright exited, Reyes moved over to third base. The Mets won the game 1-0 in the 13th inning on Austin Jackson's Walk off double. 

Final Career Game: On September 30th, Reyes made his last Mets start, batting leadoff & playing short stop. He grounded out in his only at bat & was then taken out of the game. The crowd cheered him on for a fine career as a Met. It truly was the end of an era.

In the dismal 2018 season, Reyes played in 110 games batting .189 with 4 HRs 12 doubles 3 triples 16 RBIs & 30 runs scored. He stole five bases & posted a.260 on base % & .580 OPS.

All Time Mets Leader Board: Jose Reyes is the Mets All Time leader in stolen bases (405) & triples (110). He is second in hits (1534) runs scored (949) doubles (272) & at bats (5437). 

Reyes is second All Time in Mets games played at short stop behind Bud Harrelson, with 1101. He is third in Mets games played (1365). 

Reyes is (tied with Cleon Jones) for eighth in RBIs (521) eleventh in walks (428) & fourteenth in HRs (108). 

Career Stats: In his 16-year career Reyes stole 517 bases (33rd all time). 

He played in 1877 games with 2138 hits (214th all time)1180 runs scored (203rd all time) 387 doubles 131 triples (78th all time) 145 HRs & 719 RBIs. 

He struck out 914 with 589 walks posting a .334 on base % & .761 OPS.

He has played 1647 games at short stop (48th most all time) with a .973 fielding %.

 At short he turned 911 double plays (54th all time) with 2092 put outs (99th all time). He played 94 games at third base with a .937 fielding %.

Post Season Career: In two post seasons he is a .229 hitter (11-48) with one HR, a triple, a double seven runs scored & five RBIs.

Old Timers Day: In 2022 he returned to the Mets for the Old Tiers Day game & ceremony.