WASHINGTON — The Mets’ willingness to let Jose Reyes keep testing his ailing right leg came back to bite them in a huge and embarrassing way yesterday.
An MRI exam revealed the shortstop tore his right hamstring muscle Tuesday while running at a workout facility in New York, endangering part or all of Reyes’ 2010 season, too.
The torn hamstring muscle is a new injury and comes on top of the torn right hamstring tendon Reyes suffered while running in Port St. Lucie in early June.
Already under fire for their bungled handling of so many of their injured players this season, the Mets now face fresh scrutiny for letting Reyes continue to run, even when it was obvious he would not be back this season.
The Mets announced Reyes’ latest medical setback moments after they ended their road schedule with a 7-4, walk-off loss to the Nationals, completing an embarrassing three-game sweep by baseball’s worst team.
The Mets did not say the extent of the newest injury, but a complete tear of the hamstring muscle most likely would require surgery. The team, though, declined to announce any immediate treatment plan.
Manager Jerry Manuel also said before yesterday’s loss that Reyes was running at just 75 percent of his full capacity at the time of the latest setback. Reyes hasn’t played since pulling himself from a game at Dodger Stadium on May 20.
“They’re trying to make a determination [on surgery], because there’s only so much time after surgery that you’ll have [before spring training],” Manuel said before Reyes’ torn hamstring muscle was announced.
What makes the situation seemingly outrageous is that Reyes had a good chance of being back in the lineup in September if he had opted for surgery in June, when he tore the hamstring tendon.
Instead, the delay and the subsequent hamstring muscle tear will force Reyes to miss winter ball and threatens his availability for the 2010 season because recovery from both injuries can be lengthy.
The prospect of surgery also would all but erase the Mets’ chances of trading Reyes in the offseason should they make the unlikely decision to break up their core of players.
Though the debate over surgery on the torn hamstring tendon dragged on far too long, what remains unclear is where to put the blame for the delay.
The Mets have not said whether they have urged Reyes to have surgery when the tendon was torn completely during the early June workout in Florida or whether they went along with Reyes’ stated desire not to have an operation.
Reyes said during a visit to Citi Field earlier this month that he wanted to see if the injury responded to rest instead. He also repeatedly said he considered surgery a last resort.
“That’s the last option on my mind,” said Reyes, who also lashed out at unspecified critics for questioning his desire to return.
Reyes ends the season having appeared in just 36 games, by far the fewest of his career. He also hit just .279, his worst showing since 2005, with two triples, two homers and 15 RBIs to go with 11 steals.
Manuel said he considers Reyes’ almost season-long absence his biggest disappointment and a huge factor in the Mets’ dizzying plunge from preseason World Series contenders to 67-92 and one step from the NL East basement.
Manuel said that Reyes’ speed, both defensively and on offense, would have been a boon to the Mets in their first season at spacious Citi Field.
“With his speed and range, it would have been exciting to watch him perform there [at Citi Field] on a daily basis,” Manuel said. “I was looking to him becoming the guy to lead the infield and him having a great year defensively.”