Feeling better about Reynolds yet?

[Bradysburns]

I think I am. For the purposes of this thread I am not really heavily considering his defense into the equation. But to be clear, it has not really been up to par.

According to ESPN he has the lowest Fielding Percentage and the most amount of errors of all MLB third basemen. BB-Ref has him worth -0.4 WAR defensively so far in 2011.

But we all know that we didn't get him here to play defense. We got him here to hit some dingers.

Right now Marky Mark is ranked 1st on the team in Walks, extra base hits, doubles, HR, and of course K's. Is that enough for you?

Would you be surprised to know his monthly splits look like this:

April .169/.253/.313 (2 HR)

May .215/.348/.430 (5 HR)

June .176/.364/.588 (2 HR so far)

And that he is OPSing 844 over the last 28 days (24 games)?

I started this thread because we all know that there was tons and tons of Reynolds bashing early on in 2011 (and rightfully so). My question is.......do some of you now think that we might be close to getting the guy we thought we were?

Good thread. I was one of the bashers, to an extent. To my mind, he's contributed... and he's shown flashes. And I am feeling a little bit better about his game now. But not much.

I thought we were getting a guy who could hit somewhere in the low to mid .200s, with 30-plus HR power. At this point, I admire his grittiness and his attitude. But he's pretty one-dimensional. And I don't think he's an everyday third baseman on a contending team. IMO, he'd be a perfect guy off the bench, in the mold of a late-career Pete Incaviglia. A dangerous pinch hitter. Having him play third every day is sub-optimal, because of the consitency issues... and the defense. I wish him well, but will be glad to see him replaced at third someday.

[Sports Guy]

Wow, so no one at all was worried after that April?

Maybe I'm the one who is misremembering the general tone of this board. I don't mind admitting that I was pretty down on him after the first month. But I'm happy that he's turning it around now of course.

There were plenty of irrational people on this site about him.

[waroriole]

Wow, so no one at all was worried after that April?

Maybe I'm the one who is misremembering the general tone of this board. I don't mind admitting that I was pretty down on him after the first month. But I'm happy that he's turning it around now of course.

I agree. But, the people making those posts aren't going to come in here.....at least not yet.

[DrungoHazewood]

His first three years in the league he hit .279, .239 and .260.

Keep in mind the offensive decline over Reynold's career. He has the same OPS+ (i.e. relative to league) today that he did in 2008.

[vab]

I knew he wasn't going to hit .280 but I can't see how the < .200 average can be tolerated long-term, even with the power. They probably don't have a choice this year but I can't see him being an everyday player in the future if he can't make at least a little more contact.

[El Gordo]

I knew he wasn't going to hit .280 but I can't see how the < .200 average can be tolerated long-term, even with the power. They probably don't have a choice this year but I can't see him being an everyday player in the future if he can't make at least a little more contact.

In May he hit .215 .348 .430 .778 In June so far it's .176 .364 .588 .952. You really prefer the higher BA?

[Dipper9]

In May he hit .215 .348 .430 .778 In June so far it's .176 .364 .588 .952. You really prefer the higher BA?

Exactly.

The VERY FIRST thing I ever learned when I joined the Hangout so many years ago was that batting average is one of the most overated stats in baseball.

[Slappy]

[srock]

Reynold's is going to keep getting better as he gets comfy with AL pitchers. It's all about OPS, batting average is no good here.

[DrungoHazewood]

Good thread. I was one of the bashers, to an extent. To my mind, he's contributed... and he's shown flashes. And I am feeling a little bit better about his game now. But not much.

I thought we were getting a guy who could hit somewhere in the low to mid .200s, with 30-plus HR power. At this point, I admire his grittiness and his attitude. But he's pretty one-dimensional. And I don't think he's an everyday third baseman on a contending team. IMO, he'd be a perfect guy off the bench, in the mold of a late-career Pete Incaviglia. A dangerous pinch hitter. Having him play third every day is sub-optimal, because of the consitency issues... and the defense. I wish him well, but will be glad to see him replaced at third someday.

- Pete Incavaglia pinch hit 165 times in his career, and hit .176 with an OPS just over .500, while striking out 40% of the time.

- Nobody really has a job anymore as a pinch hitter, at least not in the AL. So far this year there have been 850 American League games and 325 pinch hitting PAs. As a bench player Reynolds would be a 1B/3B/PH.

- An average MLB third baseman in '11 has an OPS of .678, and a +0 glove. Reynolds is very close to being average overall. You can win with that.

[Austin]

I guess these sort of players just take a little while to adjust to a new league. Take a look at Adam Dunn's stats.

[VeveJones007]

Was never really concerned about Reynolds.

As an aside, it seems like the HRs are starting to come for this offense. They just need to start getting more guys on base so they are worth more than 1 run a pop. Everyone knows this, but the team really needs Markakis to get going.

[sangar]

One of the Reynolds bashing threads had me wondering if manic-depression is a group activity.

[TiredofLosing20]

Wow, so no one at all was worried after that April?

Maybe I'm the one who is misremembering the general tone of this board. I don't mind admitting that I was pretty down on him after the first month. But I'm happy that he's turning it around now of course.

I generally don't worry about individual statistics in April. I worry about injuries. From a team W/L perspective, I compare April to Thursday at the Masters. The only thing you can really do is play your way out of contention.

[Hallas]

- Pete Incavaglia pinch hit 165 times in his career, and hit .176 with an OPS just over .500, while striking out 40% of the time.

- Nobody really has a job anymore as a pinch hitter, at least not in the AL. So far this year there have been 850 American League games and 325 pinch hitting PAs. As a bench player Reynolds would be a 1B/3B/PH.

- An average MLB third baseman in '11 has an OPS of .678, and a +0 glove. Reynolds is very close to being average overall. You can win with that.

I'm a little concerned because by all accounts he is absolutely awful on balls that he has to charge. We have a ground ball staff. Conceding an infield hit on weakly hit groundballs to 3B is a big problem. His fielding numbers reflect this (-9.8 UZR, -4 TZ, -16 DRS) and it makes him essentially a replacement level player despite being (barely) average with the bat.