The disabled list might not be required, but Jose Reyes didn’t get a great result from the MRI exam performed on his left hamstring.
The test, conducted yesterday morning, revealed a mild strain. The indispensable shortstop characterized the news as better than he expected and called it “nothing big.” But a strain could mean Reyes misses more time.
Reyes, who left Friday’s game with hamstring tightness, didn’t play yesterday and won’t play today, either, which makes sense considering tomorrow’s off-day affords him a third day of rest. As for potentially playing Tuesday, Reyes said, “The doctor says they’re going to go depending on how I feel.”Asked about going on the DL, Reyes replied, “I don’t think so.” But Willie Randolph was unsure how long his All-Star might be out.
“The best thing to do with things like that is let it calm down for a day or two and see how it responds after some of the soreness goes away,” Randolph said. “I’m just as in the dark as you are as far as when he’ll be back or how long will it take. No one knows that.”
What Reyes did know was that at least the hamstring was improving. After yesterday’s game he said the soreness had at least gone down.
Reyes, who first felt the problem when he woke up on Friday, had strained hamstrings earlier in his career and missed significant time, but he said those were higher up in his leg. This one is behind his knee.
Randolph remained convinced it was different than Pedro Martinez’s strained hamstring, which the team also characterized as mild. Martinez is expected to miss between 4-6 weeks.
“He didn’t grab it,” Randolph said of Reyes. “You saw [Endy Chavez] last year like somebody shot him. Pedro, obviously he was hurt. If [Reyes] had really pulled it, he wouldn’t have been able to run like [he did on Friday].”
For however long Reyes is out, the Mets will be lacking one of their most valuable players. As Randolph said yesterday, “Obviously he’s the kind of guy we can’t lose for an extended period of time.”