Jose Reyes gets last laugh after being embarrassed by Braves

Mark Townsend
·Yahoo Sports Contributor
Jose Reyes followed his lowest moment this season with his most productive game in a long time. (Getty)
Jose Reyes followed his lowest moment this season with his most productive game in a long time. (Getty)

If Jose Reyes needed a wake up call to help him snap out of his season-long slumber, it may have finally come on Wednesday night.

The New York Mets veteran was caught napping on the bases early in Wednesday’s 16-5 win against the Atlanta Braves, resulting in one of the most embarrassing moments we’ve seen so far in 2017. But rather than sulk, Reyes appeared to use that moment as motivation, ultimately finishing with his most productive game of the season.

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Reyes was on second base with the Mets already leading former teammate Bartolo Colon 5-0 in the third inning. That’s when T.J. Rivera lifted a routine fly ball to Nick Markakis in right field for the inning’s second out.

After securing the catch, Markakis made a casual throw back to the infield that obviously caught Reyes off guard. The next thing we know, Dansby Swanson is applying a tag to unsuspecting Reyes as he walked with his head down back to second base.

There’s never a good time to make a blunder of that magnitude, but it could have been especially bad for Reyes given his struggles this season. Reyes entered the game hitting .172/.260/.323 with three homers and five RBIs through 26 games. Not exactly inspiring numbers. Perhaps even grounds for dismissal as many have been speculating.

The embarrassment was written all over Reyes’ face immediately after the play. But apparently underneath was a new found determination, or even a sense of urgency knowing a moment like this could be a final straw.

Reyes ended up reaching base two more times and doubled his RBI total with five. His big hit was a bases-clearing double in the eighth inning that helped cement New York’s victory.

And how about this for an in-game turnaround? Reyes was even crowned Player of the Game by his teammates.

Baseball is a wonderful game, isn’t it? One minute it humbles you, the next minute you’re the king of the clubhouse.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!