As Wilmer Flores has struggled at shortstop over the first quarter of the regular season, speculation has persisted as to if and/or when the Mets will replace him with Matt Reynolds.
Last weekend, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports said the Mets might consider promoting Reynolds and moving Flores to second base once David Wright is ready to return from the disabled list, which should be in about a week.
In the interim, John DeMarzo of the New York Post spoke with a scout to get some insight int Reynolds.
“I think he’s a steady player who makes all the routine plays,” the scout told DeMarzo. “He has no tool that really stands out. He does everything average and in the long run he’s more of a utility player.”
Reynolds, 24, has hit .282/.348/.417 with 14 doubles, two home runs and and 26 RBI in 41 games for Triple-A Las Vegas this season. However, he’s just 9-for-his-last-50 at the plate with three walks and 11 strikeouts in his last 12 games.
Reynolds had a big, breakout season last year after struggling in the minors through his first two professional seasons. The Mets were impressed with him this past spring, but it seemed clear they wanted to see more from him before making a determination to promote him and replace Flores at shortstop.
It’s still not clear when and if it will happen, especially since Flores has performed better at the position over the last week or so and has hit for a little bit of power as well. However, if the scouts take is true about Reynolds’ defense, that would serve as an improvement for the Mets up the middle.
Perhaps they will eventually pass Reynolds over completely and look to the external markets to shore up the middle infield. For now though, the trade markets have yet to open up, so if Flores regresses again, the Mets will have to make a decision about what to do with Reynolds sooner rather than later.
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3 responses to “Scout: Matt Reynolds is a utility player at best”
The Cardinals have a long history of taking players like Reynolds and making them productive at the plate and very steady in the field. They don’t ask for the moon, just consistency – the kind of player who can extend an inning at the plate and get the lead runner on defense. A baseball player.
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And the scouts also said Montero had the skills to be a starter while DeGrom was better suited for the bullpen.
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Don’t give up on Reynolds just because this scout says he’s a utility player at best. No one thought anything of deGrom when he was in AA and even AAA. Some of these scouts are flat out retarded.
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