Jose Reyes Returns Saturday After Recovering From Thyroid Issues

Mets All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes is set to make his season debut today at home against the Nationals, according to USA Today. Reyes, who hasn’t played in a regular season game since May 20 of last season, was healthy to begin the spring but was then diagnosed with an overactive thyroid midway through spring training. Reyes brings some much needed speed and offense to a 2-2 Mets club who have been playing with a middle infield combination of rookie Ruben Tejada, Alex Cora, and Luis Castillo. The Nationals will be throwing John Lannan for today’s afternoon game.

Check in with SBNation’s Amazin’ Avenue for all reactions from today’s game.

About two weeks ago, shortstop Jose Reyes was instructed to take it easy for 2-8 weeks to let his body recover from an overactive thyroid. Well, Reyes’ thyroid levels were checked Tuesday morning, and they’re back to normal, so Reyes has been cleared by team doctors to return to camp with the rest of his team. That he’s been able to make it back in just about the minimum amount of time comes as a bit of good news for an organization and fan base desperate for a little fortune.

Reyes will still have to work his way back into game shape, and it could take him some time to get up to speed. However, where once it appeared guaranteed that he would miss significant time during the season, now there’s an outside shot that he could even be ready by Opening Day. It’s not likely, but it’s no longer impossible.

Shortstop Jose Reyes, who was recently diagnosed with an overactive thyroid, has been told to take it easy for a little while until his body recovers:

Initially, Reyes thought he would be able to return very quickly, but while his is a curable condition, it will require that he remain by and large inactive until everything settles down. While it’s a broad timeline, as Reyes could recover in anything from two weeks to two months, even the best-case scenario would require that Reyes work himself back into game shape after resuming baseball-related activities, and the Mets aren’t optimistic that Reyes will be ready by Opening Day.

First, he had to answer questions from federal investigators about his involvement with shady Canadian sports doctor Tony Galea.

Now, he’s headed to New York to undergo additional blood tests after previous testing conducted in Florida revealed that Reyes had a thyroid imbalance, the team announced today.