With Al Reyes in the fold (and probably on the way to Shea in 10 days or so) the Mets now have three Reyes to keep tabs on. I’d like to know if anyone can remember other combinations of guys on the same team with the same last name. Can anybody name another situation where there were three?

Al Reyes has had a good career for a journeyman. (Yes, when you’ve pitched for the Brewers, Dodgers, Orioles, Pirates, Yankees, Cards and Ray, you are a journeyman.) Reyes has been tough to hit (just 340 hits in 428.2 innings), but he has had control issues (195 walks). His total line reads like this: 23-16, 3.82 ERA in 384 games. You can see Reyes’ career stats here.

Oddly enough, Reyes wasn’t actually terrible with Tampa. He wasn’t closing and wasn’t happy about it, so perhaps that had at least something to do with his release.

— As for Mike Pelfrey…Jerry Manuel said he’d begin to monitor Pelfrey’s innings, but only if the big guy starts to labor on the mound, i.e. struggle with his command, issue too many walks, throw too many pitches. If he remains solid, it appears the Mets will let him continue to work on a regular basis.

Sabermatricians have determined that pitchers are susceptible to arm troubles if they exceed their innings pitched from the previous season by 30 or 40. Pelfrey pitched 152.2 innings last year, meaning he should be safe around 180-190 this year. Right now he’s at 145 IP, and on pace for 179. Of course (and this would be a welcome problem for the Mets), Pelfrey would start to drift into uncharted waters if he pitches in the playoffs.

Anyway, something to keep an eye on.

— Jerry Manuel also said he’d welcome the return of Ryan Church in part because it would allow him to rest Fernando Tatis. Tatis hasn’t played this much since 2002, so he may hit a wall at some point. In fact, it may’ve already started. He’s batting .230 this month with a .778 OPS.

I know Manuel had already mentioned resting Tatis more. But what surprised me was that he continued to say he’d employ Daniel Murphy and Nick Evans as a platoon in LF when Church is activated. So when, exactly, would Tatis play? You can’t go away from him completely, right?