Scouting Report Jose Reyes

Jose Reyes - #7

To check out his 2010 scouting report, click here

27 years old (turns 28 in June)
6'1" 200 pounds
9th major league season
Bats S/Throws R

The Good: "When healthy", which his off-season physical therapist/athletic trainer said he was and said "he was one of the best athletes he's ever seen." (And the PT/ATC has trained Olympic athletes). Reyes is one of the most exciting players in baseball. Brings high energy to the field, as well as the fans. As a shortstop, he has a cannon for an arm. Hit 19 triples in 2008 and Citi Field is built for his speed, which is referred to as "game changing". Shows equal power from both sides of the plate over his career.

The bad: Even though he has a cannon arm, and a lot of foot quickness/ability, Reyes rates as just an average defender on defensive metrics. His biggest area of concern, however, is the disappearance of his walks, and plummeting OBP. From 2006-2009, Jose Reyes OBP was between .354-.358 due to a walk rate hovering around 10%. Last year he abandoned walking and his walk rate dropped to 5%, causing his OBP to be atrocious at .321. Reyes swung at 32% of the pitches out of the strike zone, which is above league average (2007-2009 he was < 25%). That is completely unacceptable, and earned him a C+ for the year in my end of the year grades for 2010. He also has had a cascade of injuries the past two years.

Role: Starting Shortstop as long as he stays healthy. As long as he gets his walk rate/OBP back up, he is a prototypical lead-off hitter.

Contract: The talk of the off-season has been the lack of a long-term contract for Reyes, as he is in the last year and making 11 million dollars. The Mets wanted to make sure he was fully healthy, but if he returns to his previous level of play, it remains to be seen if the Mets can be the highest bidder, and he will be in high demand on the free agent market. 

2010 Stats: 563 AB, 83 runs, 11 HR, 54 RBI, 30 SB, .282/.321/.428
My 2010 Projections: 700 at bats, 115 runs, 16 HR, 60 RBIs, 45 SB, .288/.360/.450
My 2011 Projections: 675 at bats, 90 runs, 12 HR, 55 RBIs, 38 SB, ..286/.345/.440
As a reference, major league shortstops bat aver./obp/slug % last year was: .272/.328/.393



Next Scouting Report: Chin-lung Hu