Mark Reynolds is a Tease Someone Else Can Deal With

[Va Beach O's fan]

I don't disagree with you here. It's just that if you actually look at (1) Reynolds' success in moving runners over from 2B to 3B with nobody out, (2) his success in moving a runner home with less than 2 out and a runner on 3B, and (3) the rate at which he hits into double plays, and compare those to the league average, you will conclude that the overall effect is pretty minimal. I did an analysis of Reynolds' 2011 season and concluded that he failed to advance a runner from 3B five more times than average, failed to advance a runner from 2B two more times than average, and grounded into one less double play than average. Net that out and maybe those things cost the Orioles 5 runs over the entire season compared to an average player. Losing 5 runs that way is not good, but it has to be weighed against the contributions Reynolds makes by getting on base and hitting home runs.

My analysis of 2011 can be found here: http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showthread.php/119823-Reynolds?p=2717697#post2717697

I understand what you are saying but you also need to weigh in how many runs his errors cost us over the course of the 2011 season as well.

You can't hit below average (albeit very slightly as you pointed out) and also field WELL below average. He also makes far too much money for the production we've seen from him.

I haven't looked up his stats for this year but I'm just assuming that his walks are up, the errors are way down since he has moved to 1b and the power is also down. Again, I like Reynolds, he is a hometown guy for me, but you just have to look at it rationally and admit that he has some pretty major holes in his game.

I'm not sure if we can continue to pay him the type of money we are paying him if he continues to struggle at key aspects of the game for a player his age.

Now with that said, he's been playing MUCH better over the last month or so than we was at the start of the season so if he can keep that up for the rest of the season and avoid one of his famous prolonged slumps, we can revisit this topic at the end of the year and see where we stand.

[Va Beach O's fan]

Va. Beach, what is your feeling re J.J. Hardy's offense? He hits for power, doesn't strike out nearly as often as Reynolds, but he does ground into double plays, and he doesn't get on base much (.310 OBP last season, even worse than Jones' .319, and .284 this season.) He's great defensively, but this is an offense question.

In my opinion, his production is solid for a SS. He has more than adequate power, actually you could say he has "elite power" at the SS position, he has pretty good range defensively and while he isn't a prototypical leadoff hitter, he absolutely excelled in that role last year while Roberts was out.

He's not really a number 2 hitter either, but he is being forced into that role because of injuries and the lack of a viable alternative and is also doing a solid job in that aspect as well. He's not an ideal leadoff or number 2 hitter, but the job he has done filling in at both positions has been more than I think most of us could reasonably expect.

We'd all love for his OBP to be higher and we'd definitely like to see him cut down on the double plays, but overall I think Hardy has done a good job hitting where he has instead of hitting out of a more natural position in the order for him like the 6 or 7 hole.

Also as someone else said, SS is a demanding position defensively and you can very well excuse lower offensive numbers from that position on the diamond. A third baseman or a first baseman should give you higher percentages at most key hitting metrics because outside of a few GREAT defensive cornerman, most 3b/1b are on the field for offense.

Reynolds defensive numbers over the years have been pretty bad and as I said earlier, when you combine them with his extreme strikeout numbers and fairly low batting average, it is easy to get frustrated with him.

But to give credit where credit is due, Reynolds has been heads and shoulders better over the last month which has also coincided with his move to 1b and his defensive numbers improving as well.

That clear my position up a little?

[Pickles]

I understand what you are saying but you also need to weigh in how many runs his errors cost us over the course of the 2011 season as well.

You can't hit below average (albeit very slightly as you pointed out) and also field WELL below average. He also makes far too much money for the production we've seen from him.

I haven't looked up his stats for this year but I'm just assuming that his walks are up' date=' the errors are way down since he has moved to 1b and the power is also down. Again, I like Reynolds, he is a hometown guy for me, but you just have to look at it rationally and admit that he has some pretty major holes in his game.

I'm not sure if we can continue to pay him the type of money we are paying him if he continues to struggle at key aspects of the game for a player his age.

Now with that said, he's been playing MUCH better over the last month or so than we was at the start of the season so if he can keep that up for the rest of the season and avoid one of his famous prolonged slumps, we can revisit this topic at the end of the year and see where we stand.[/quote']

By what metric is Reynolds a below average hitter?

He's clearly, w all his warts, and above average hitter.

[Va Beach O's fan]

I was talking more about his hitting with risp and his ability to move runners over is slightly below average as frobby pointed out.

But if you want to get more in depth with it, he's batting .229, is on pace for 14 home runs, 52 rbis and 53 runs, is hitting .40 points below his career ops and .60 points below his career slugging percentage although his obp is up thanks to all the extra walks so far.

Now obviously he got off to a very slow start and is hitting much better lately, but the guy is still a strikeout machine, a below average fielder (although not nearly as bad at first as he is at third) and only a decent hitter for a 1b/3b/dh playing in the American league.

Do you want to go down the list of guys playing first base in the American league and see how he stacks up offensively? Because if you think he is an above average hitter for an American league first baseman you have a pretty big wakeup call coming.

Just in our division alone, you can say Mark T., A-Rod, middlebrooks, he's off to a very slow start this year but A Gon, Lawrie, Pena and Longoria are ALL better fielders and hitters in the AL East than Reynolds at 3rd or 1st.

So how you can call him an "above average hitter" at his position is a head scratcher. Now if you want to say he has above average POWER, then we can certainly put him in the discussion.

But again, for the POSITIONS he plays in the American league, he is not an above average fielder or hitter.

[Frobby]

I understand what you are saying but you also need to weigh in how many runs his errors cost us over the course of the 2011 season as well.

You can't hit below average (albeit very slightly as you pointed out) and also field WELL below average. He also makes far too much money for the production we've seen from him.

I haven't looked up his stats for this year but I'm just assuming that his walks are up' date=' the errors are way down since he has moved to 1b and the power is also down. Again, I like Reynolds, he is a hometown guy for me, but you just have to look at it rationally and admit that he has some pretty major holes in his game.

I'm not sure if we can continue to pay him the type of money we are paying him if he continues to struggle at key aspects of the game for a player his age.

Now with that said, he's been playing MUCH better over the last month or so than we was at the start of the season so if he can keep that up for the rest of the season and avoid one of his famous prolonged slumps, we can revisit this topic at the end of the year and see where we stand.[/quote'].

Just to be clear, I was only commenting about his offense, and the relative unimportance of his strikeout totals compared to other things. His defense is a huge disappointment to me. He was atrocious at 3B, and he's below average at 1B, too, though not quite as bad. That raises serious questions as to whether we'd want to keep him long term. But I'm not going to have conniptions every time Reynolds strikes out, because overall, his good offensive traits outweigh the bad ones.

[Can_of_corn]

By what metric is Reynolds a below average hitter?

Batting Average

[Pickles]

I was talking more about his hitting with risp and his ability to move runners over is slightly below average as frobby pointed out.

But if you want to get more in depth with it' date=' he's batting .229, is on pace for 14 home runs, 52 rbis and 53 runs, is hitting .40 points below his career ops and .60 points below his career slugging percentage although his obp is up thanks to all the extra walks so far.

Now obviously he got off to a very slow start and is hitting much better lately, but the guy is still a strikeout machine, a below average fielder (although not nearly as bad at first as he is at third) and only a decent hitter for a 1b/3b/dh playing in the American league.

Do you want to go down the list of guys playing first base in the American league and see how he stacks up offensively? Because if you think he is an above average hitter for an American league first baseman you have a pretty big wakeup call coming.

Just in our division alone, you can say Mark T., A-Rod, middlebrooks, he's off to a very slow start this year but A Gon, Lawrie, Pena and Longoria are ALL better fielders and hitters in the AL East than Reynolds at 3rd or 1st.

So how you can call him an "above average hitter" at his position is a head scratcher. Now if you want to say he has above average POWER, then we can certainly put him in the discussion.

But again, for the POSITIONS he plays in the American league, he is not an above average fielder or hitter.[/quote']

Of the regular first basemen in the AL East, only Texiera has a better OPS+ than Reynolds. And it's all of 115-112.

You fail to see Reynolds for what he is.

[EutawBomber]

This is not a thread complaining about the strikeouts and constant fielding mishaps. I am just referring to knowledge of how to play the game. The throw to third last night, almost rolling over Roberts for a pop-up at 2nd tonight. He's got to have the least feel for how a game should be played out of anyone in baseball.

[section18]

The play tonight was not acceptable. He thought he was still playing 3B and didn't expect anybody to be to his right as he pursued the popup. He has to go........NOW. I wish him well wherever he goes.

[Dark Helmet]

Not to be rude, but to we really need another pick on Reynolds thread?

Sorry, having to listen to Bob Carpenter on fox spew off about the Gnats has me edgy.

[Dark Helmet]

The play tonight was not acceptable. He thought he was still playing 3B and didn't expect anybody to be to his right as he pursued the popup. He has to go........NOW. I wish him well wherever he goes.

I don't blame Reynolds. Its not his fault he's not at his natural position....DH.

Id rather see Betemit gone. I don't think I've seen him get a ball to 1b on the fly yet.

[section18]

Carpenter definitely bleeds red.

[Can_of_corn]

Not to be rude, but to we really need another pick on Reynolds thread?

Sorry, having to listen to Bob Carpenter on fox spew off about the Gnats has me edgy.

Of course we do. Despite the presence of a game thread and a rants section folks are encouraged to rant here about things that happened during the game.

How many games does Reynolds have at first?

My count is 111 including the minors over 9 seasons. I don't think it is a sign of low baseball IQ that he still occasionally acts like a SS/Third baseman.

[baltfan]

I am sorry, this is a bit much. There isn't really a bunch of evidence that Reynolds' baseball IQ is a problem. If you think so, you obviously weren't here when Jeff Stone was here. :eektf:

[miwayjO's]

Felix Pie