What Reyes' Injury Means For Jays, AL East

Blue Jays shortstop, Jose Reyes, injured himself Friday night leaving himself with a severe ankle sprain. (For More Info visit http://coverthebases.weebly.com/1/post/2013/04/ss-reyes-out-1-3-months-with-severe-ankle-sprain.html) But, the question is, what does this mean for the Blue Jays and the AL East as a whole?

Well, take this into consideration, Jose Reyes has a .297 career average. He also gets into scoring postion a lot with 415 stolen bases in his career. So, if the Blue Jays need 4 runs to win a game, and Reyes gets 2 hits, has 2 stolen bases, and 2 runs, the Jays have gotten half the run support they'll need to win their games.

On Saturday, the Jays started Munenori Kawasaki at shortstop, who only has 190 career major league at bats. Kawasaki, who was with the Mariners last year, is 2-4 in stolen base attempts in his career. In 61 games, Kawasaki was 20-104 (.192 avg). He was called up from AAA for Reyes' injury because of his glove work. The Blue Jays' run production will almost positively be diminished without Reyes.

So, what does this mean for the AL East race? It may be early to tell, but Reyes will be out for up to three months. And by that time, it will be July. Reyes could be a huge factor in how the AL East race could be played out. The Yankees, Rays, Orioles, and Red Sox will fare well from Reyes' injury. The teams with the bigger ballparks will be happier. Why? Reyes isn't a home run hitter. He is a double and triple hitter. If you have a big ballpark, it would be easier for Reyes to get all the way to second or third.

Reyes is a hard-working, very fun player to watch. I'll miss watching him.