5. SS Jose Reyes, 2006
2006 Season stats — 647 at-bats, .300/.354/.487, 122 runs, 30 doubles, 17 triples, 19 home runs, 81 RBIs, 64 stolen bases, 53 walks/81 strikeouts
Jose Reyes may be the most dynamic player to ever wear a New York Mets uniform. He had many great seasons, but 2006 was the peak of his success as one of the best shortstops in baseball at the time.That season, Reyes set the table for the rest of the Mets’ big bats with a .300 average, 47 combined doubles and triples and still managing 64 steals. What’s makes this performance even more impressive is that he still was a run-producer, grabbing 81 RBIs on 19 homers.
The team won 96 games that year and it’s thanks in no small part to the work of Reyes as the game’s most intense lead-off man. Unfortunately, the Mets have been in a never-ending search for someone to replace him as a top-of-the-order hitter, although he did a fine job filling in at third base last season, helping to spark the team’s playoff run.
