Mets' Reyes Of Hope May Be Fleeting

This has been a difficult week for the New York Mets. In particularly, it has been especially difficult for one Jose Reyes. Your heart really has to go out to him. At the beginning of the week, reports had surfaced about a connection he had to Dr. Galea in Toronto. Galea is under investigation for using illegal substances to treat clients in rehabbing injuries.

Then, it is revealed, that Reyes was only questioned in the investigation because teammate Carlos Beltran had tipped them to Reyes. He then, has the only bright spot of his week in the form of a triple in his first game.

This is followed by days of being penciled into the lineup only to be scratched before game time for medical reasons and was sent back to New York for further evaluation. Those medical reasons were revealed today and the news may not be very good. Jose Reyes has, by his own admission, an overactive thyroid.

The condition can be easily treated and could just be another weird health issue in a long list of strange issues for this ball club. However, this may be an unpredictable condition when translating to sports. All sarcasm aside, this could potentially become a horrible break for the team and even more bruising to a young player entering his prime. Unfortunately, if this becomes more serious, it could become a major factor in his ability to play everyday.

The condition has several symptoms and side effects. Among the many, are fatigue, lack of concentration, weakness and nausea. These are all symptoms that are in and of themselves, not horrible, and certainly not insurmountable. However, combined, they can be damaging to a ballplayer.

If caught early and with the proper treatment, Reyes will be just fine. Let's hope and pray for that. Not just for the triviality of the Mets future or their season, but much more importantly, for Reyes. This is one of those incidents where the story of a person and their ailments must transcend the sport. This is not a question of a few weeks, as is initially being reported, but could be a factor for his career if he is unable to properly adjust to it.

If not treated correctly or in a timely manner by this medical staff, the condition could worsen. Of course, this is the same medical staff that had declared J.J. Putz fit without an examination, so we can hope. For right now, the ineptitude of the current medical staff is not the story, but Reyes is. How he adjusts to the treatment will be the key.

He is a bright spot with a wonderful future if he can be completely healthy from this. Only time will tell, but there most definitely will be an adjustment period if it doesn't entirely go away. Let us all hope that it does. If not, then the league will not be the same. If this leads to nagging health issues that effect playing time and performance, that would be most unfortunate. It would lead to a more unstable league and cause us all to miss out on the sensation that is Jose Reyes.