Mark Reynolds has been a pleasant surprise for the Washington Nationals. The veteran slugger signed a minor-league deal with the Nationals in April. Usually having a veteran who hit .267/.352/.487 with 30 home runs and 97 RBIs in 148 games the season prior, teams would be jumping to sign him. Unfortunately for Reynolds he was a victim of an unusual dry free agent market.
Questions that arose about his struggling second-half last season — hit .243 with 74 strikeouts in 214 plate appearances — and whether he could hit at the rate he did without the aid of playing in Coors Field with the Colorado Rockies, may have played a large factor to go along with teams closing their wallets.
Nonetheless, with the season already in play and Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo looking add depth to his MLB roster, they took a low-risk, how reward chance on Reynolds. Rizzo’s calculated move has paid off for Washington.
The Nationals are reeling with injuries, Ryan Zimmerman, Daniel Murphy, and Adam Eaton are all on the disabled list. Howie Kendrick and Rafael Bautista are done for the season. Throw in the other names like Brian Goodwin among others and the Nationals have a solid MLB roster on the disabled list.
Those injuries have been washed momentarily with the emergence of a couple of good free agent signings by Rizzo. Matt Adams has been the headliner of those signings, but Reynolds has provided his share of much-needed depth.
In Saturday’s 4-1 win over the Miami Marlins, Reynolds belted a lead-off home run in the ninth inning off Brad Ziegler to break open a 1-1 tie. The home run now gives Reynolds five on the season in 27 at-bats. That’s a rate of one home run for every 5.4 at-bats.
What do you think of this Mark Reynolds bat drop, and why does it belong in a museum? pic.twitter.com/UjGnvzo9GS
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) May 26, 2018
He is currently hitting .444/.483/1.037 and has seven RBIs.
It’s a small sample size, but Reynolds has given the Nationals an impact. In his first game with the team, he blasted two homers against his former team the Arizona Diamondbacks back on May 13. He had another two-home run night against the San Diego Padres on May 21.
How ‘bout the “new” guys? Tim Collins and Justin Miller combine to work a clean 8th. Mark Reynolds and Matt Adams combine to plate two in the 9th. Rizzo & Co. keep finding these key contributors.
— Dan Kolko (@masnKolko) May 26, 2018
His biggest contribution is the fact he is hitting .500 against left-handed pitchers. Four of his home runs have come leading off an inning. The former University of Virginia product and teammate of Zimmerman has filled in the first-base position with Zimmerman’s absence quite well. His power rate gives manager Dave Martinez a great option to pinch-hit in critical moments, when needed.
Teams passed on Reynolds for unknown reasons, but one man’s trash is another’s treasure. The Nationals are enjoying the 34-year old’s contributions. On a team with World Series aspirations, every move, every piece is part of the puzzle. For Reynolds, he is rejuvenating his market and his new team as they are just 1.5 games out of first place in the NL East despite many of those pieces being banged up. Additions like Reynolds have made it easier for the Nats to cope with.
