Mets shortstop Jose Reyes will undergo surgery to clean up scar tissue around the hamstring tendon behind his right knee, the Mets said today.
Reyes will not require surgery for the hamstring muscle tear in his right leg, which he suffered in late September while working out for his return to baseball.
The date of the surgery is yet to be determined. Reyes is expected to fully recover and be ready for spring training.
Mets medical director Dr. David Altchek has directed that the surgery be performed by Dr. Daniel E. Cooper, an expert in the surgical treatment of the chronically torn semi tendinosis tendon in athletes.
Cooper, affiliated with The Carrell Clinic and based in Dallas, is the head team physician for the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Stars. Cooper trained under Altchek at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.
Reyes tried to come back after he was placed on the disabled list May 26 but felt discomfort while running during his rehabilitation work. An MRI exam showed the new tear.
Reyes batted .279 with two homers, 15 RBIs and 11 steals in 36 games this season.
Reyes’ leg was one of a series of key injuries that sent the Mets spiraling to a 70-92 record and fourth-place finish in the NL East.
Reyes told Post reporter Paul Schwartz on Thursday that, “I’ll be ready for spring training.” But asked how he was feeling, Reyes reached behind his right leg and said, “Not too good.”
Reyes at the time brushed off speculation that his latest leg injury could jeopardize his 2010 season or even be career-threatening.
“They don’t know what happened,” Reyes said. “It’s nothing like that.”
The club continues to face questions about its handling of Reyes since he pulled himself out of a game at Dodger Stadium on May 20 complaining of pain in his right calf. After receiving a cortisone injection, Reyes was running in Port St. Lucie in early June when he suffered a complete tear of the right hamstring tendon.
If Reyes had opted for surgery at the time, the recovery period — about two months — would have allowed him to return to the Mets’ lineup by August. Instead, Reyes pressed on with a combination of rest and therapy that resulted this week in him adding another injury to his already weakened right leg, and missing the rest of the season.
“That was the turning point in the season, not getting Reyes back, just because of how important he was to what we were trying to do,” Jerry Manuel said last week.
What remains unclear is if the Mets are entirely responsible for ruining Reyes’ season by rushing him or if Reyes shares the blame. After all, the Mets can’t force anyone to go under the knife, and Reyes told reporters last month at Citi Field that he wanted to return this season and always considered an operation to be “the last option.”
The latest woes are reviving Reyes’ long-dormant reputation as a player who can’t stay healthy.
Reyes had trouble even getting on the field early in his major-league career and was limited to 54 games in 2004 due to various leg problems that even prompted the Mets to tinker with his running style.
Reyes put that reputation behind him starting with the following season, and never played in fewer than 153 games over the next four years. He appeared in 161 games in 2005 and 160 games in 2007.
With Bart Hubbuch; Paul Schwartz; New York Mets, AP