The return of Jose Reyes proved to be a shrewd move by GM Sandy Alderson, as Reyes outperformed many expectations, and delivered an impressive .267/.326/.443 slash line, with eight homers and 24 RBI, along with nine stole bases in 11 chances.
Reyes was a catalyst atop the Mets’ lineup, and allowed for Curtis Granderson to slide back into the middle of the order, a place he seemingly felt more comfortable batting in. Case in point, Granderson hit cleanup in 23 games this season, with a stat line of .321/.440/.605 with six homers, 18 RBI, and 17 walks to 15 strikeouts in 81 at-bats.
With a club option for the league minimum in 2017, Reyes is all but assured of coming back to Queens next season, especially with health concerns looming at any point from third baseman David Wright. Reyes would then get a full season with the Mets to help lead them once again to the postseason.
And of course, with Reyes sticking around for another season in the orange and blue, there are a few franchise records that Reyes would be moving up the ladder in, some of those include:
Hits – David Wright leads the Mets all-time in hits (1777), and Reyes ranks third behind Wright and Ed Kranepool (1418) with 1368 hits. Reyes is only 50 hits away from tying Kranepool for second all-time, and should have no problem accomplishing that feat in the first half of the season.
Home runs – Darryl Strawberry leads the Mets all-time in home runs with 252, and there’s a good list in front of Reyes (he’s currently tied for 17th with Gary Carter who both have 89), but Reyes has a chance to leapfrog over several players next year, including Carter, Cleon Jones (93), John Milner (94), Bobby Bonilla (95), and George Foster (99). If he hits 10 next season, he’d be tied with Foster for 13th place all-time in the Mets’ record books.
Runs batted in – Reyes currently ranks 11th all-time in RBI, with 447. With 22 RBI next year, Reyes would have sole possession of 9th place, with 469, passing Keith Hernandez who had 468. Reyes would need another season with the Mets to pass the 8th leader in RBI, Cleon Jones, who owns that spot with 521.
Extra-base hits – Wright leads this category, and by a lot, with 658 extra-base hits. Second on the list is the man Reyes will try and chase in 2017, Darryl Strawberry (469). Reyes is currently third at 427, 42 away from tying Strawberry. Reyes accumulated 25 extra-base hits in the 255 at-bats he had with the Mets this year, so it’s not out of the question for him to amass an additional 17 extra-base hits in double the at-bats next season.
Games – Reyes is 8th in games played with the Mets, at 1110. Six more games played and he’ll be tied with Mookie Wilson for 7th all-time with 1116. Next up is Howard Johnson who’s 6th all-time with 1154, and then Cleon Jones at five with 1201 games played as a Met. Barring an injury, Reyes could get as high as 4th all-time in games played by next season, passing Jerry Grote who has 1235 games played. Reyes would need another season to pass the third place leader in Bud Harrelson, who played in 1322 games as a Met.
Reyes already has the Mets career marks in triples (103), and stolen bases (379), and is on his way to inching closer and closer to many other Met records, etching him into the conversation as one of the most productive and beloved Mets of all time. Keep an eye on the stats next season, because just like Reyes on the base paths, he’s blazing past competition and into the franchise record books.
