Reyes returns to Rockies: ‘I’m a changed person’

6:57 PM ET

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Colorado Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes took the last of his dozen-or-so swings, stepped out of the batting cage and did a little dance to the beat of the music playing from a small radio in the grass near his feet.

Contrite but happy to be back on a baseball field, Reyes worked out at the Rockies’ spring training facility Thursday, his first step in returning from a 52-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball’s new domestic-violence policy.

“It’s good to be on the field and put that stuff behind me,” Reyes said. “I’m sorry. I made a mistake and will stand here like a man. I just have to try to be a better man, a better husband.”

Jose Reyes is serving a 52-game suspension for violating the league’s domestic-violence policy and is eligible to return June 1. AP Photo/Matt York

Reyes, 32, did not participate in spring training and was suspended through May 31 after being charged with domestic violence for an altercation with his wife in Hawaii last October. Prosecutors dropped the charge before a scheduled April 4 trial after saying Reyes’ wife was not cooperating. Reyes became the second player to be suspended under baseball’s new domestic violence policy — with New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman — and will lose $6,251,366 of his $22 million salary while sitting out.

“I put myself in this situation, and I’m sorry about it,” Reyes said. “I need to put this in the past and continue with my life and my career. Human beings make mistakes. Like I said, I’m sorry to put Rockies fans in this kind of …

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