The answer to the Cyclones scoring woes could be Jose Reyes.
Jose Reyes will play for the Cyclones on Sunday and Monday after the Mets signed him to a minor-league deal on June 25. Reyes will hit in the leadoff spot and play third base.
According to a source, Reyes will wear number seven — his old Mets number — and second baseman Nick Sergakis will temporarily switch to number two.
Former Mets All-Star and current Cyclones third-base coach Edgardo Alfonzo found out about Reyes’ return minutes before manager Tom Gamboa was officially informed.
“I knew before I officially knew because Reyes called Fonzie,” Gamboa said. “Fonzie and I were sitting in the office and Reyes called him and said, ‘Hey, I’m going to be there tomorrow and play two games and they want me to play third base.’ And then literally a couple of minutes later, the phone rang, it was Ian Levin (the Mets director of Minor League operations) and he officially gave me the word.”
Reyes was a dynamic shortstop for the Mets from 2003–2011, but the four-time All-Star struggled with Miami, Toronto, and Colorado.
Last October, Reyes was arrested for allegedly assaulting his wife in Hawaii. Although no charges were filed, Major League Baseball suspended Reyes for over 50 games without pay for violating its domestic abuse policy. The Rockies released Reyes last week, opening the option of a reunion with the Mets.
This isn’t Reyes’ first rodeo with the Cyclones. He went one-for-three with a double and a run scored for Brooklyn on July 18, 2011, the year he led the National League with a .336 batting average.
Reyes hadn’t just been sitting in his home and staring at walls all day during his suspension. Gamboa noted that Reyes brought in Mets instructor Juan Lopez to live with him, throw him batting practice and hit him ground balls during March and April. Reyes returned to the diamond after his suspension, appearing in nine games with Colorado’s Triple-A affiliate. He hit .303 with two home runs, two runs batted in and three steals in 33 at-bats.
Gamboa would like his young players to learn what they can from the veteran.
“Just watching him play, seeing how he prepares for the game, talking to him,” Gamboa said. “One thing I’ll talk to the players about is not being intimidated. He’s in our clubhouse, he’s wearing our uniform, he’s only going to be here two days. He’s a very personable guy, so I want our guys to open up to him, especially the infielders to ask him questions of little things he learned along the way because there’s no substitute in this game for experience. It’s always good when you get somebody that the players can look up to and draw from.”
