San Diego Padres Will Have to Find Spots for Franmil Reyes

With a new addition to the outfield mix, and considering the tear he’s been on, the San Diego Padres will need to find room for one more guy.

Whatever San Diego Padres manager Andy Green‘s plan may be for the power-hitting 22-year-old, with the display that Franmil Reyes has been putting on in El Paso this season, the Friars need to strike while this gargantuan iron is hot.

Judging by his splits in Triple-A, albeit in small sample sizes, it appears as if Reyes doesn’t care any less if he’s facing a right-hander or a lefty; he smashes pitches from both.

In 106 at-bats against righties this season he’s slashing .349/.435/.792 with 14 home runs and 31 runs batted in. Against just the handful of lefties he’s faced, the right-handed hitter is 7-for-21 with four doubles and a .985 OPS.

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Reyes turned it on in May

He had pedestrian, but still promising, April that saw him rack up 22 hits in 89 at-bats with five homers and twenty RBI (and 23 strikeouts).

Then Franmil Reyes went on a tear in May that some (me) believe to be nearly unrivaled (strict opinion).

In less than half of the at-bats that he saw the previous month (38 compared to the 89 he had in April), Reyes already has matched those 22 hits and nine of them have been home runs.

He’s almost matched his RBI total from April (he’s got 17 already) and has only struck out six times.

Whether the San Diego Padres use Reyes as an incredibly imposing bat off of the bench, give him a spot start, or simply use him whenever they can, the experience that he’s going to get at the big-league level, positive or negative, will be extremely valuable moving forward in his development.

Any way you want to slice it, Reyes wasn’t pulled out of a historic run in Triple-A to sit on the Padres’ bench and watch. Give the young man a fair shake and see what falls.

Next: Friars Season, Act Two, Begins Now

If he continues on the tear he’s been on, but against MLB pitching, it would be another moving part the San Diego Padres will need to fit into their rebuilt engine. Hopefully, a few more parts like Reyes and Joey Lucchesi will turn what was a beater into a hot rod.