Mets' Reyes likely to need surgery on hammy
Photo credit: David Pokress | An injured Jose Reyes watches a game from the top step of the dugout.
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WASHINGTON - With Jose Reyes trying to return from a torn right hamstring tendon, which had kept him on the disabled list since May 26, the Mets revealed late Wednesday that the All-Star shortstop suffered a tear of the hamstring itself during a running workout on Tuesday.
Reyes had complained of discomfort in the leg and was examined Wednesday at the Hospital for Special Surgery, where an MRI showed the new injury. The Mets did not specify the severity, but even a partial tear can take eight to 10 weeks to heal, while a complete tear may require three to six months.
Reyes already was likely headed for surgery to repair the tendon - now it looks unavoidable - and this latest setback could affect his status for spring training in 2010. This recent series of leg injuries for Reyes is reminiscent of earlier in his career, when he spent far more time in rehab than on the field. He played only 36 games this season and none since he limped off the field on May 20 at Dodger Stadium.
At that time, the Mets described the condition as tendinitis behind the right knee and attempted to treat him with cortisone shots. It wasn't until June 4, the day before he was to be activated from the DL, that Reyes officially was diagnosed with a torn hamstring tendon, an injury that never seemed to heal leading up to the muscle tear he suffered on Tuesday.
The news that Reyes is now more seriously injured was the topper to another brutal day for the Mets, who watched Francisco Rodriguez tee up a walk-off grand slam to Justin Maxwell in the ninth inning of a 7-4 loss to the Nationals. That completed the three-game sweep for last place Washington - a 103-loss team - and sent the reeling Mets back to New York for the final series of the season.
"We're just not a good team right now," manager Jerry Manuel said. "We're not playing good baseball."
It was the second walk-off grand slam allowed by K-Rod this season and his seventh blown save in 41 chances. On Aug. 7, Rodriguez served up the deciding slam to the Padres' Everth Cabrera at PETCO Park. Maxwell's blast came on a full-count pitch with two outs.
"I don't make excuses," Rodriguez said. "If I suck, I suck. I had my opportunity out there to make one pitch and I couldn't do it. To all the fans, I apologize, because it's really embarrassing."
The Mets' medical staff should be issuing apologies as well after apparently mishandling Reyes for most of the season. After what was described by the team as a promising workout last Saturday, when Reyes completed his most "intense" running session to date, the Mets said he experienced "discomfort" after Tuesday's regimen at a Long Island training facility.
Now that this season has been written off, there's no reason for the Mets to wait on fixing Reyes. While the tendon did eventually fray and snap - as Reyes endured cortisone shots to get back on the field - it has been described as a non-essential tendon that is often harvested for Tommy John surgery.
But now the problem seems more complicated than simply cleaning up scar tissue and it doesn't help that he has been a notoriously slow healer during a career that was slowed early on by numerous leg issues, mostly involving his hamstrings.
Even if Reyes has surgery shortly, and is medically cleared by the start of spring training, he still would show up in Port St. Lucie not having played in a major-league game in more than nine months.
This season marked his first trip to the DL since 2004, when Reyes played in only 53 games because of a strained right hamstring and a fractured left fibula. He had played in no fewer than 153 games during the previous four years.
Notes & quotes: The Nationals are 17-13 against the Mets in September since the franchise moved to DC in 2005 . . . Pedro Feliciano broke his own Mets single-season record for a pitcher with his 87th appearance.
