Reyes' health is Mets' top concern
Jose Reyes' ailing hamstring is tops on Jerry Manuel's list of concerns heading into next season.
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Jerry Manuel is happy Carlos Beltran is back, even if on a limited schedule, because the Mets' manager doesn't have to wait until spring training to evaluate him. That's not the case with Jose Reyes, who hasn't played since May 20 and might need offseason surgery to repair a torn hamstring.
"As we sit here today, I would have to say yes, [Reyes] would be a question [for spring training]," Manuel said Sunday. "Because I haven't seen him run, I haven't seen all those things, so that's still a question for me. What I would like to do is know that he's healthy, that he's 100 percent. That's the whole key for me . . . Spring training becomes a very important time for him versus what it has been in the last few years."
Manuel said Reyes' injury - of all the Mets have suffered this season - is the most troubling to him.
"Just the length of time for what we thought was [a minor injury]," he said. "That was probably our toughest one in terms of the uncertainty of it and the expectation. We'd say, 'Well, at least I know I'll have him after the [All-Star] break. At least I know I'll have him in August. At least I know I can get to see him in September.' "
Now he'll get to see him in February. He hopes.
Beltran went 2-for-4 with an RBI in the Mets' 6-2 win over the Nationals. He took Saturday off after playing Friday night.
Extra bases
Wilson Valdez, who has supplanted Anderson Hernandez at short, had a two-run triple in the eighth. "The more that he plays, the more that he appears to grow on you," Manuel said . . . Omir Santos rejoined the team after the death of his grandmother.
