Jose Reyes recalled, Matt Reynolds sent down

You may have heard that Jose Reyes is returning to the Mets tonight. In order to make room for the 33-year-old shortstop-turned-utility-man, all signs are pointing towards Matt Reynolds being optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas, as the young infielder’s locker has apparently been cleared out before Tuesday night’s game.

Reynolds simultaneously struggled and acquitted himself nicely in his first taste of major league action. The 25-year-old worked some good at-bats and contributed a couple of key hits, but he batted just .233/.267/.419 with one home run, two walks, and 15 strikeouts in 46 plate appearances. There was some concern as to whether Reynolds’s range would be adequate for a major leaguer, but his defense seemed to pass the eye test while also grading out positively, according to Fangraphs—albeit in a minuscule sample size. It would be surprising if we did not see Reynolds wearing a Mets uniform again at some point this season.

While sending down Reynolds makes sense from a positional standpoint, many felt that Alejandro De Aza would be the player to get the axe. The 32-year-old is hitting a disappointing .162/.231/.232 in 109 plate appearances after signing a one-year, $5.75 million contract this past offseason.

Reyes has also struggled this year, hitting just .239/.342/.343 in 79 plate appearances across three minor league levels—numbers that also mean very little, considering the small sample size. In nine seasons with the Mets, Reyes hit .292/.341/.441 with 1,300 hits and 370 stolen bases in 4,840 plate appearances in 1,050 games. If this reunion does nothing else, it will spoil all of those aesthetically pleasing round numbers. Reyes was also Baseball America’s #3 prospect in 2003, which probably makes you feel old.