NEW YORK -- Jose Reyes' breakout three-hit performance Saturday night came at a cost: Reyes tweaked a muscle inside his left rib cage during his first at-bat. Though he was initially in the starting lineup for Sunday's finale vs. the Angels, the Mets scratched him approximately two hours before game time.
"I came today with the attitude that I'm going to play, but they won't let me," Reyes said. "I went back and forth with [manager] Terry [Collins] a couple times to leave me in the lineup. He said no, he doesn't want to take a risk. We know what happened with some players here."
Three times this year, the Mets have placed players on the disabled list with exacerbated injuries after letting them play through relatively minor aches. Yoenis Cespedes has been sidelined for four weeks with a left hamstring strain, Noah Syndergaard is likely to miss four months with a torn right lat and Asdrubal Cabrera went on the DL last week with a sprained right thumb. Each of them suffered an on-field setback while attempting to play through injury.
Reyes also has a history of rib cage issues -- including last year, when he missed three weeks with a left intercostal strain. That, more than anything, convinced the Mets to hold him out of Sunday's lineup.
"They don't want to take any risks," Reyes said.
The injury comes just as Reyes was heating up at the plate, submitting a pair of three-hit games in his last three contests. Overall, he is batting .205 with three home runs and five stolen bases, starting at shortstop regularly in Cabrera's absence.