John Gibbons doesn’t have any issue with how Jose Reyes plays the game, despite some recent criticism.

Appearing on Baseball Central on Sportsnet 590 The Fan on Friday, the Toronto Blue Jays manager came to the defence of his starting shortstop.

“I’ll tell you one thing about Jose (Reyes), I don’t think I’ve ever been around a more enthusiastic guy that shows up to play every day,” Gibbons told hosts Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker. “That’s just a fact.”

John Gibbons on Baseball Central

“He’s going to show up to play – good or bad — and that’s refreshing for a manager. You really don’t have to worry about him dropping his head in the sand. He’s not going to do that and you can’t say that for all of them.”

Reyes has taken some heat locally, most notably from Sportsnet 590 The Fan radio broadcaster Jerry Howarth, who criticized the 31-year-old for making a critical throwing error during a 6-5 loss to the Minnesota Twins last Sunday.

Howarth later said on an appearance on Sportsnet 590 The Fan that Reyes is having “too many smiles when he is in decline and making mistakes and hurting his team losing.”

“That’s the just the way the game is,” Gibbons said Friday. “Don’t forget, (Reyes) played in New York, so he’s well aware of those things. That’s a media that gets on the players. These guys are actually pretty fortunate here. He’s been hardened by that and he knows how to respond. (Reyes) has got every right to respond. (It’s) just the nature of the business. Heck, I get enough of it myself.”

Gibbons did acknowledge that Reyes’ defence isn’t what it used to be, but doesn’t see it as a problem.

“He’s had his troubles on and off defensively. He is getting a bit older,” said Gibbons. “The older we get in time, people slow down a bit. He’s been a great player for a long time and he’s still doing a lot of great things, but naturally (that’s) just the way it goes.”

Reyes thought Howarth’s critiques were unfair and responded to Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi in a 1-on-1 interview.

“If he’s got a personal problem with me, he needs to come talk to me to my face, like a man,” Reyes said. “Some of the stuff there I disagree with, because what he says is what the fans listen to, that’s what the fans are going to believe.

“I hate when people say, ‘He’s having too much fun.’ I’ve been in this game since I was 19 years old, did you see a different Jose Reyes? No. You see the same guy every single day, nothing changes. I can go 0-for-5, I can go 5-for-5, I’m going to be the same guy. I’m a happy guy, people have to deal with it.”

Reyes is hitting .284/.299/.353 with 10 runs, seven RBI, four steals and four errors in 25 games this season.