Aside from a few games here and there, almost everything seems to be going right for the Colorado Rockies this year. Thanks to the offseason mastery of Jeff Bridich and the rest of the front office crew, the organization is set up with a wealth of talent nearly across the board.
“I think the strength is in the versatility and the athleticism,” MLB veteran and first-year Rockie Ian Desmond said. “It’s something that Jeff [Bridich] made very evident, that that was a goal of his when I signed here.”
During the 2016-17 offseason, Desmond signed on with the Rockies on a $70 million experiment that he could transition over to first base, a position he’d never played before in his first eight years in the bigs. For the most part this season, he hasn’t really had to find out.
That’s not to say he can’t play first base well. By all accounts, his versatility has helped him tremendously in the few times he’s appeared in the infield this season, but someone else is keeping him from finding out the true depth of his talents at the three position. His name is Mark Reynolds.
Entering Spring Training, Reynolds was a bit of an afterthought. After the Rockies put so many eggs in the Desmond basket, few thought Reynolds would get much of a chance in the majors with the organization this year. But, lo and behold, Desmond fractured his hand during March, and the bat signal flashed in Reynolds’ direction. At that point, he had committed to a $1.5-million minor league contract with the team.
Since he first stepped on the field during the 2017, Reynolds hasn’t disappointed. In his first 223 at-bats, Reynolds has boosted the Rockies with 17 home runs, 54 RBIs, 69 hits and 37 runs scored. That’s good for a .309 batting average and a .968 OPS. His 54 RBIs place him at second-best in baseball behind Arizona’s Jake Lamb, who has 57.
Aside from Charlie Blackmon, Reynolds’ performance at the plate has gone unrivaled by the rest of his teammates, and that’s what’s keeping him aboard the ironclad ship that is the Colorado Rockies.
“I’m obviously pleased,” Reynolds said. “I’m having fun. I just can’t take anything for granted, just got to keep to my routine, keep working and hopefully keep being consistent.”
Just the other day in Chicago, en route to a 9-1 rout of the Cubs, Reynolds went off with four hits in five plate appearances with two RBIs, two runs and home run thrown into the mix.
Back in late April, just before Desmond made his regular-season debut with his new squad, Reynolds had unquestionably solidified a spot in the infield. That, he said, was just a small piece to the depth puzzle that manager Bud Black had to solve, and it was one that reached far beyond the trenches of first base.
“It’s obviously a good thing,” Reynolds said. “Ian’s going to make this thing better. What I wanted, my goal, was to make it harder for Buddy to take me out of the lineup.”
Now, with Desmond back in the lineup and switching off between left field and first base – among the multitude of players at other positions with similar talents – that ship is moving full-steam ahead.
“More than any team I’ve ever been on, I notice guys not necessarily are afraid to take days off, but aren’t afraid to pass the ball. That’s a key,” Desmond said. “Buddy’s been doing a good job of managing that, and players have been good about accepting it and moving on.”