Mark Reynolds OPS is .731...

[alaniee]

Every time I see that .gif I laugh. Oh man. That is good. Buck is like oh ok sure thing no problem after Mark just misses him. Richie sees the whole thing then looks back at Reynolds after seeing Buck do the double take. Oh man oh man

Buck even makes his hand move down lol invisible clap

[Grt 2BA FL Gator]

I really really think Mark is going to start mashing HRs soon. I think it's worth it to keep him in the lineup nearly everyday, just in case he goes on a tear.

[El Gordo]

It is pretty amazing to me that Reynolds has only 9 homers this late in the season. I'm glad he is finding some other ways to contribute. His defense is interesting - he messes up some pretty routine plays at times but also makes a lot of "plus" plays.

When was the last time you remember him messing up a routine play? I think he has been solid to exceptional for the last month at least. Which plays am I forgeting? Yesterday he made three plays that neither Davis or Baetimit would have come near. And it seems like he does this almost every day. But because he made a bunch of E's at 3B last year and the beginning of this, we assume he does the same at 1B. He has 4 E at 1B in 532 IN as compared to 26 E at 3B last season in 253 IN and 6 in 40 IN this year. Clearly he is much better at 1B, and seems to get better every day.

[Frobby]

When was the last time you remember him messing up a routine play? I think he has been solid to exceptional for the last month at least. Which plays am I forgeting? Yesterday he made three plays that neither Davis or Baetimit would have come near. And it seems like he does this almost every day. But because he made a bunch of E's at 3B last year and the beginning of this, we assume he does the same at 1B. He has 4 E at 1B in 532 IN as compared to 26 E at 3B last season in 253 IN and 6 in 40 IN this year. Clearly he is much better at 1B, and seems to get better every day.

I don't allow his foibles at 3B to color my judgment of his defense at 1B. Four errors in the equivalent of 59 games is not particularly good. Fangraphs has his UZR/150 at -15.4, second worst of any 1B with at least 450 innings. As you know I take UZR with a grain of salt, but I think it reflects that Reynolds has made more errors than most 1B and finds himself out of position at times. I do agree he is getting better with experience, and I don't think he is a big liability at 1B, but I think it is going overboard to say he is above average defensively at 1B. He makes some nice plays there at times.

[El Gordo]

I don't allow his foibles at 3B to color my judgment of his defense at 1B. Four errors in the equivalent of 59 games is not particularly good. Fangraphs has his UZR/150 at -15.4, second worst of any 1B with at least 450 innings. As you know I take UZR with a grain of salt, but I think it reflects that Reynolds has made more errors than most 1B and finds himself out of position at times. I do agree he is getting better with experience, and I don't think he is a big liability at 1B, but I think it is going overboard to say he is above average defensively at 1B. He makes some nice plays there at times.

You said he messes up routine plays, can you point to any examples in the last month? I can think of one. I can also think of two in the last week made by Markakis, whom I regard as a very steady RF. On the other hand I can remember at least 10 exceptional plays Reynolds made in that same time period. Other than yearerday, do you recall any other eceptional plays he has made the last month? I don't bring up defensive metrics because you've made it clear you don't trust them. I think it a bit disingenuous to do so now. I think because of his reputation as a poor 3B, any time he makes a misplay at 1B people give it much more weight then they do when he makes an exceptional one. Using E 's as a measure of defense is not very helpful IMO. Adam Dunn has no E's at 1B in 200 IN. Do you think he is a better defensive 1B than Reynolds? I suppose my judgement is colored by the fact that I have been watching almost every inning of every game the past mont so I keep seeing with my eyes a lot of exceptional plays made by Reynolds and I wonder why he doesn't seem to get much credit for them.

[Mondo Trasho]

I think sometimes Reynolds makes some bad throws, or even makes unnecessarily risky throws. I once proposed that he just go out there wearing two gloves to minimize the risk of making mentally bad plays. So far though he's been ok at 1B.

[Frobby]

You said he messes up routine plays, can you point to any examples in the last month? I can think of one. I can also think of two in the last week made by Markakis, whom I regard as a very steady RF. On the other hand I can remember at least 10 exceptional plays Reynolds made in that same time period. Other than yearerday, do you recall any other eceptional plays he has made the last month? I don't bring up defensive metrics because you've made it clear you don't trust them. I think it a bit disingenuous to do so now. I think because of his reputation as a poor 3B, any time he makes a misplay at 1B people give it much more weight then they do when he makes an exceptional one.

I think you make fair points here. Off the top of my head, the only poor play I can think of recently is his error in the first inning of the game where Tillman then allowed 6 unearned runs to score with two out. And I was pretty strong in saying that it was not fair to blame that whole inning on Reynolds, as a lot of people did. At least personally, I feel I don't let Reynolds' poor performance at 3B affect my judgment of him at 1B. The two positions require different skill sets and Reynolds clearly has been much better at 1B than 3B.

[Flash- bd]

Mark Reynolds' OPS is....much higher than it used to be.

[waroriole]

Reynolds starting to come to life?

OPS is at .733.

[Hank Scorpio]

That one went rather far.

[Roll Tide]

Be nice to see him get really hot and finish with 25ish bombs.

[Lucky Jim]

Mark Reynolds can carry a team if he gets hot. C'mon Mark. Redemption time!

[theobird]

One word for all of you that have been ragging on Mark Reynolds: KWITCHER*****IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tennOsfan]

If Reynolds were to finish the season hot, we've got a real shot at hanging in there.

[Teddy OBP]

I think you make fair points here. Off the top of my head, the only poor play I can think of recently is his error in the first inning of the game where Tillman then allowed 6 unearned runs to score with two out. And I was pretty strong in saying that it was not fair to blame that whole inning on Reynolds, as a lot of people did. At least personally, I feel I don't let Reynolds' poor performance at 3B affect my judgment of him at 1B. The two positions require different skill sets and Reynolds clearly has been much better at 1B than 3B.

He's actually made a few great plays at first recently. He needs to stay there...I think it is pretty clear to both Reynolds and Davis that the O's *hope* that 3B is a closed issue for the next 10 years. That's got to be a motivator.

If Reynolds rediscovers his bat for a month he can make a huge difference.