Jose Reyes

Note: This page is for All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes; for the catcher who played in 2006, click here

José Bernabe Reyes

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 195 lb.

• Debut June 10, 2003
• Final Game September 30, 2018
• Born June 11, 1983 in Santiago, Santiago, D.R.

BR page

Biographical Information

José Reyes stole 60 bases for the New York Mets in 2005, becoming the youngest player since Tim Raines in 1981 to reach that total. One of the league's most dangerous baserunners, Reyes also led the National League in triples with 17. He led the league again in both categories in 2006.

He is nicknamed "Mr. Excitement" for his explosive running and base stealing and for his defensive skill and enthusiasm. He came up as a shortstop, but played second for a season to make room for Kazuo Matsui.

He also set the MLB record for having the fastest time, in seconds, going from home to 3rd and going all around the bases. His time from home to 3rd is 8.72 and going all around the bases is 12.03.

On December 6, 2007 it was announced that Reyes was chosen to be featured as the cover athlete on the upcoming video game, MLB 2K8.

Reyes went 1 for 9 with two walks, two runs and one error for the Dominican Republic national team in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. His lone hit came off Diegomar Markwell. He broke a 0-0 tie in the 11th inning against the Dutch national team in a do-or-die game by drawing a Leon Boyd walk and coming home on an error by Eugene Kingsale. The Netherlands, rallied, though, and beat the Dominicans to eliminate them from the tournament.

In 2011, Reyes became the third player since 1961 to have three multi-triple games in a season, following Carl Crawford (2004) and Kenny Lofton (1995). He won the National League batting title that year, with a .337 batting average, becoming the first player from the New York Mets to do so. It was a significant comeback season for him, as he had not been a league leader in any category or reached a major statistical landmark since 2008. He had missed almost all of 2009 because of injuries, and had only a so-so year in 2010.

In 2011, he made a tremendous comeback, however, becoming the first member of the Mets to win a batting title. He hit .337/.384/.493 in 126 games, with a league-leading 16 triples. A free agent after the season, there was speculation all year over whether he would re-sign with the Mets or not. On December 4th, he decided to move to a new team, signing a 6-year contract with the newly-renamed Miami Marlins, worth $60 million. He had to shear his trademark dreadlocks when he joined the Marlins, given his new team's strict policy on length of hair. He decided to have his hair cut on mlb.com's "Hot Stove" show, and then to auction it off. It fetched over $10,000, which was handed over to the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

While the Marlins had a disappointing season in their first year in Marlins Park, Reyes played relatively well in 2012. He had the longest hitting streak in the major leagues that year, reaching 26 games on August 8th, before being shut down by former teammate R.A. Dickey of the Mets on August 9th. In those 26 games, he had hit .358, with 8 doubles, 2 triples and 5 homers, bringing his average to .288, still well below his previous season's mark, however. The streak was the second-longest in Marlins history, matching one by Emilio Bonifacio in 2011, but well behind Luis Castillo's 35-game streak in 2002. On September 15th, he was charged with the 500,000th error in the history of major league baseball, flubbing a simple ground ball hit by Drew Stubbs of the Cincinnati Reds. He finished the year hitting .287 in 642 at-bats, with 37 doubles, 12 triples and 11 homers, 86 runs scored and 40 stolen bases. However, the Marlins decided to change course completely after a disappointing first year in their new park, and on November 13th pulled off a blockbuster trade with the Toronto Blue Jays, sending Reyes, Ps Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson, C John Buck and IF/OF Emilio Bonifacio to the Blue Jays in return for a package of mainly young players including IFs Yunel Escobar and Adeiny Hechevarria, P Henderson Alvarez, C Jeff Mathis and three minor leaguers.

Reyes suffered a serious ankle injury only a few days into the 2013 season. The injury occurred on a stolen base attempt in the 6th inning of a game against the Kansas City Royals on April 12th. Something popped when he slid into the base; he screamed in pain and had to be carted off the field, and was expected to be out for three months. While the Jays won that game, 8-4, their season had started very poorly in spite of the huge infusion of talent over the off-season and Reyes's injury cast a further pall. He missed over two months of action, finally returning to the line-up on June 26th, by which time the Jays had managed to right the ship and were playing above .500. Reyes played well after his return, finishing with a .296 average, 20 doubles and 10 homers along with 15 stolen bases in 21 attempts, in 93 games, but the Jays weren't able to keep their heads above water. That year, he became one of only a handful of players to hit 10 more triples one year, only to manage zero the next, while playing at least 90 games both seasons. Late June was the Jays' high-water mark that year, and they quickly sank back in the standings after that, finishing in last place well behind the four other teams in the AL East. The team's bold gamble to challenge in 2013 had failed to pay off.

If the Blue Jays were hoping for a healthy season from Reyes in 2014, their hopes were quickly dashed. On Opening Day on March 31st against the Tampa Bay Rays, he aggravated a hamstring injury in his first at-bat of the year, had to be removed from the game and then was placed on the disabled list. He came back on April 19th and was healthy the rest of the way, playing 143 games, and hitting .287 with 33 doubles, 9 homers, 94 runs scored and 51 RBIs. He collected 175 hits and stole 30 bases while being caught only twice in what was a solid season overall. But for the jays, it was another disappointment, as after taking over first place in the AL East in June and holding it for most of July, they hit a bad slump and fell well back over the last two months, finishing once again far from a postseason slot. In 2015, he again had some early-season injury woes, being on the DL from April 28-May 26th with a cracked rib. When in the line-up for Toronto, he hit .285 with 4 homers and 34 RBIs in 69 games, but scored only 36 runs, a low total for the leadoff hitter of a team with the best offense in the majors coming up behind him. Also of concern was his declining range at shortstop, a concern given the team's overall defensive woes. Still, it was a major surprise when on July 28th he was traded to the Colorado Rockies as part of a blockbuster deal that brought SS Troy Tulowitzki to Toronto. Others included in the transaction were P LaTroy Hawkins, coming over from Colorado, and young Ps Miguel Castro, Jeff Hoffman and Jesus Tinoco who made the trip the other way. He hit .259 in 47 games for Colorado.

On October 31, 2015, while on vacation in Hawaii, Reyes was arrested on charges of domestic violence, having allegedly grabbed his wife by the neck and shoved her into a glass door. His case was the first test of Major League Baseball's newly adopted domestic violence policy, adopted the previous August after discussions between the Players' Association and MLB, and following a number of cases which had put the National Football League in a bad light. Reyes pleaded not guilty to assault charges. However, he did not report when spring training opened in February of 2016, as he was instead placed on a paid suspension by Major League Baseball until completion of the criminal proceedings. His court date was scheduled for April 4th, the same day as the Rockies' opening game. The case was dropped when his wife refused to cooperate with investigators, but MLB conducted its own investigation and on May 13th, it announced that his suspension would last until May 31st, or a total of 51 games including the games already missed, costing him $7 million in salary. He also lost his starting job, as his replacement with the Rockies, rookie Trevor Story was excellent in his absence, making him redundant. He was assigned to the AAA Albuquerque Isotopes to get back into playing shape and hit .303 in 9 games. However, when it came time to add him to the major league roster on June 15th, the Rockies instead had Reyes designated for assignment, eating approximately $40 million in salary. On June 25th, he signed a minor league deal with his former team, the Mets, who assigned him to the Class A Brooklyn Cyclones. After a couple of games, he was moved up to the AA Binghamton Mets; he was asked to work out at third base, as the major league Mets had likely lost their long-time starter at the position, David Wright, to a season-ending injury. He made his first appearance with the Mets on July 5, 2016, starting at third base against the Marlins. He went on to play 60 games, during which he hit .267 with 8 homers and 24 RBIs. he also scored 45 runs while playing mainly third base, wit a few appearances at short as well. In the Wild Card Game, which the Mets lost to the San Francisco Giants, Reyes went 0 for 4.

The Mets were pleased with Reyes's contribution in 2016 and retained his services for 2017 with the intention to make him a super utility player, playing three infield positions and the outfield as well. He missed a couple of weeks with an injury in mid-August, and upon his return at the end of the month, Reyes batted and more notably, scored runs, at a torrid pace. In his first week back, Reyes picked up 8 hits, including 3 doubles, scored 7 runs, plus 5 walks to only 2 strikeouts in only 20 at-bats, for a first week slash mark of .400/.520/.550 and an OPS of 1.070. Reyes continued his torrid pace into September for a memorable month during which he began to slug. For the month, he slugged 6 homers (including three leadoff homers), batted in 18 runs, scored 19 runs, picked up 30 hits and had a slash line of .300/.375/.530 and OPS of .905. During this home stretch of the season, Reyes averaged almost one run per game, averaged well over one hit per game, drew nearly one walk to every strikeout, batted .317, and had an on-base percentage over .400. He didn't have his first hitless game until almost two weeks after his return. Because of injuries, he ended up playing 80 games at shortstop that year, but did see significant time at second and third base as well. In 145 games, he hit .246 but with solid power (27 2B, 7 3B and 15 HR), thanks to his late-season surge. He also scored 75 runs and drove in 58 while stealing 24 bases in 30 attempts.

Following his successful 2017 season, he re-signed with the Mets for another year. He was no longer a starter in 2018 but still saw plenty of action as a back-up at three infield positions. On July 31st, he made his debut on the mound with the Mets trailing 19-1 against the Washington Nationals in the bottom of the 8th. He proceeded to allow 5 hits and 2 walks and hit a batter, resulting in 6 runs, to allow Washington to set a franchise record for runs in a game. Two of the hits were homers by Matt Adams and Mark Reynolds. He hit .189 in 110 games and on the final day of the season, September 30th, he made a ceremonial start at shortstop against the Marlins, playing one inning and being lifted after grounding out to lead off the bottom of the 1st. It turned out to be his final major league game, as the Mets had indicated they did not intend to bring him back the next year, and no other major league team was interested in him given his age and declining skills. On July 29th, 2020, Reyes officially announced his retirement.

He became eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2024 but did not receive a single vote in that year's election and his name was dropped off the ballot.

Notable Achievements

• 4-time NL All-Star (2006, 2007, 2010 & 2011)
• NL Silver Slugger Award Winner (2006)
• NL Batting Average Leader (2011)
• 2-time NL At Bats Leader (2005 & 2008)
• NL Hits Leader (2008)
• 4-time NL Triples Leader (2005, 2006, 2008 & 2011)
• 3-time NL Stolen Bases Leader (2005-2007)
• 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 4 (2006-2008 & 2011)
• 200 Hits Seasons: 1 (2008)
• 50 Stolen Bases Seasons: 4 (2005-2008)

Further Reading

• Matt Ehalt: "Mets' Jose Reyes gearing up for the outfield", USA Today Sports, February 1, 2017. [1]
• Matt Ehalt: "Mets keeping Jose Reyes on roster, though coaching staff isn't using him", USA Today Sports, June 14, 2018. [2]
• Andrew Joseph: "Jose Reyes returns to Rockies, vows to be 'a better man, a better husband'", USA Today Sports, May 19, 2016. [3]
• Bob Nightengale: "Jose Reyes' domestic violence case shows MLB policy has ramifications", USA Today Sports, May 13, 2016. [4]
• Bob Nightengale: "Rockies want no part of Jose Reyes, nor will other MLB teams", USA Today Sports, June 15, 2016. [5]

Related Sites

• Jose Reyes on mlb.com