While the Mets continue to monitor whether Wilmer Flores is viable at shortstop, and making the decision to stick with him for another month, there has been a lot of speculation about infield prospect Matt Reynolds.
The Mets have been hesitant to promote Reynolds, preferring instead to leave him in Las Vegas where he can show the organization that last season’s breakout wasn’t a fluke.
John DeMarzo of the New York Post, spoke with Mets Triple-A hitting coach Jack Voight about Reynolds’ offense.
“He has a good approach, smarts and intelligence that will play at the higher level,” Voigt said. “He just needs to stay confident and positive. He’s done a good job with us so far here. His numbers actually don’t show how well he’s hit the ball.”
Reynolds has been mired in a slump at the plate for most of May, posting a .247/.309/.315 batting line with only five RBI in 81 AB.
It’s a far cry from his scorching hot April that yielded a .317/.379/.574 slash and 21 RBI in 82 AB. Overall, Reynolds is batting .282/.348/.417 for the season.
One concern about Reynolds too is his splits, producing a robust 1.023 OPS against LHP, but an underwhelming .639 OPS against RHP who he’s faced more than twice much.
Something that scouts and analysts can’t seem to agree on is what Reynolds’ ceiling is offensively, and whether he can in fact be an everyday shortstop.
DeMarzo caught up with a scout who watched Reynolds a lot in April and assessed him as follows:
“I think he’s a steady player who makes all the routine plays,” the scout said. “He has no tool that really stands out. He does everything average and in the long run he’s more of a utility player.”
When asked what was the one tool likely to keep Reynolds in the major leagues, the scout said it was his defense.
“He’s a better infielder than Flores,” the scout said. “But an everyday shortstop? I don’t see him as that.”
Some of you may find that a little harsh, but in all honesty and considering the past two years, a lot more scouts and analysts have called Reynolds a utility infielder than those who saw him as an everyday player.
I believe it was Adam Rubin who polled various scouts in the offseason and the consensus was that Reynolds was a slightly better version of Ruben Tejada. Whether that’s true or not remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, Flores’ defense at shortstop has been a problem at times this season. He currently has nine errors, but his range has also been lacking and he has just a .941 fielding percentage.
Offensively, even though he leads the Mets with six homeruns, he has just a .240 batting average. Still, in the grand scheme of things, his production at the plate is among the upper third of all qualified shortstops.
Joe D. contributed to this article.
