Reyes injures left hammy; MRI today

For Jose Reyes, 45 feet is a blink, a distance that barely registers in his brain when his feet are moving that fast. But Saturday, halfway to first base, the sirens went off in his head.

In the first inning, as Reyes tried to beat out a slow bouncer to a charging Robinson Cano at second, he could sense there was a problem with his left hamstring.

"I felt something weird there," Reyes said. "After that, I don't want to put pressure there. Because I feel if I put something extra, my hamstring is going to blow up."

Obviously, that would be very, very bad. Reyes made it to first base for an infield single, but two innings later, he was replaced at shortstop by Ruben Tejada because of what the Mets described as "tightness" in his left hamstring.

"You sensed it not only in the dugout, you sensed it in the stands -- the air came out of the bubble," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "Right now, we'll wait to see what it is and then reassess what we're going to do to replace him. I'm sure we'll wait until we hear from the doctor. We'll have to make some decisions."

Reyes is scheduled for an MRI Sunday morning, but the Mets already were thinking about contingency plans shortly after their 5-2 loss to the Yankees at Citi Field. Collins told Angel Pagan that he will be the leadoff man for the immediate future.

"We hate to see him out of the lineup," Pagan said. "But we have a job to do, and it's go out there and play hard and just hope that it's nothing bad and he can come back as soon as possible."

The rest of the Mets were keeping their fingers crossed and trying not to consider the worst-case scenarios.

"I don't want to think that far down the line," Jason Bay said. "We can handle it for a game or two. Not to put any onus on his MRI or the way he's feeling. But it would be very tough if we were to miss him for -- not even an extended period of time, but a period of time more than a few days."

There appeared to be a few reasons for optimism. Reyes' most recent hamstring issues, back in 2009, involved his right leg. That's when he tried to play through a torn hamstring tendon and wound up ripping the muscle as well. Reyes needed surgery to clean up the tendon area, but rest was enough to heal the muscle.

Another positive sign was the postgame conversation Reyes had with Carlos Beltran, who suggested that the shortstop was not overly concerned about the injury. In the past, Reyes has been distraught about his physical problems, but he seemed more upbeat Saturday.

"I think he's going to be fine based on what we were able to talk about," Beltran said. "He said he doesn't think this is something major. He doesn't feel like he pulled anything. I'm not worried about him. They've got to be cautious with him, for sure, so he might take some days and come back."

Reyes has been on the disabled list five times during his eight-year career and twice with hamstring injuries to his right leg, so he knows the feeling.

"It's not too much pain," Reyes said. "I've been through this before, so I know when it's worse. I don't want to get it worse there, so that's why I came out of the game. I don't want to blow my hamstring again. I've been through a lot."

Reyes also has his eye on the finish line for free agency, and risking a serious hamstring injury in the middle of a career year would not be a wise move. He's on pace to command a contract that could surpass Carl Crawford's $142-million deal, and that must enter into his mind as well.

"Every time I have an injury on my leg, I have to be worried because it's my leg," Reyes said. "Legs are a big part of my game. Right now, we don't know how big it is. We need to wait and see what the MRI is going to show."