One thing that’s been interesting this season as Jose Reyes bloomed abruptly into an offensive force is the parallel development of Carl Crawford in Tampa Bay. Crawford is very much the same type of hitter as Reyes, and like Reyes he started slowly (batting .261/.342/.322 through May 21*) before very suddenly catching fire (.386/.709/.409 since then) to raise his averages into the .300/.500/.350 zone, in which a player as fast as Reyes or Crawford is just dynamite. Crawford’s a bigger guy than Reyes and a year older and has done it a little differently – more homers, fewer walks and triples – but both of them, if they stay healthy, should have very long and productive careers ahead of them (look at Kenny Lofton or Marquis Grissom).
* – Brag: yes, this was just about exactly when I acquired Crawford for one of my Roto teams in exchange for John Lackey and Corey Patterson.
I got to see Reyes in A ball, Sally league. Even then he stood out from most of the other guys in the league.
Wow–I wish the Patterson owner in my league would’ve been suckered into that one, since I had both Lackey & Patterson at one time this season….