Reynolds in college

[OrioleParkatWrigley]

So I'm a Wahoo and realized I had never taken a look at Mark Reynolds' stats in college. He's always been a power hitter - led the team in HRs 2 of his 3 years. Had a good batting average and also was in the top 3 in RBIs for the team each year.

Unfortunately he's also always been a poor fielder. He played shortstop (can you imagine?) and led the team in errors all 3 years (22, 17, 20). Keep in mind this is a college season where he never played more than 60 games, so he averaged almost one error every three games!

He also led his team in Ks all 3 years (roughly 1 in 4 at bats).

I know these are things that we knew before trading for him, but it's kind of amazing that this was all so predictable all the way back in college.

Here's the stats page: http://www.virginiasports.com/ViewAr...ATCLID=1134446

He's there under 2002, 2003, and 2004 - see the "Season Statistics" link for each of those seasons.

[crissfan172]

He was actually never supposed to make it to the big leagues. The fact that he's been able to be a successful major league hitter is pretty impressive considering the skill set he had.

[DrungoHazewood]

Every time I watch the Orioles, or talk about Mark Reynolds, I'm forced to try to forget that he's a Wahoo. I try very hard to make him part of the very, very, very, very elite Ben Olson club (those former Wahoos I can convince myself to truly root for. Current members: Ben Olson, and sometimes Mark Reynolds).

Putting that aside for a moment, I don't think it's terribly surprising that a defensive-challenged three true outcomes player would have been a defensively-challenged three true outcomes player in college. I think most players have similar attributes, and strong/weak points despite playing against lower levels of competition, even if the relative scale of those attributes might differ.

[Fan4Life]

Every time I watch the Orioles, or talk about Mark Reynolds, I'm forced to try to forget that he's a Wahoo. I try very hard to make him part of the very, very, very, very elite Ben Olson club (those former Wahoos I can convince myself to truly root for. Current members: Ben Olson, and sometimes Mark Reynolds).

Putting that aside for a moment, I don't think it's terribly surprising that a defensive-challenged three true outcomes player would have been a defensively-challenged three true outcomes player in college. I think most players have similar attributes, and strong/weak points despite playing against lower levels of competition, even if the relative scale of those attributes might differ.

I suppose that's where major league coaching has to look at a players abilities and determine if there is enough there to transform that player from what he is, to closer to what he could be.