San Diego Padres: Franmil Reyes Rejoins Big League Roster

Outfielder Franmil Reyes has rejoined the San Diego Padres.

Reportedly, San Diego Padres’ rocket-launching outfielder, Franmil Reyes, is back with the team, leaving fans puzzled as to what the corresponding move will be. While the news hasn’t been made official by the Padres (as of 1:10 pm PT), both Dennis Lin of The Athletic and James Clark of EVT have tweeted out the news of Reyes’ promotion.

Update: pitcher Walker Lockett was optioned back to AAA El Paso. Per San Diego Padres press release. 

Reyes was originally called-up on May 14th to make his major league debut, appearing in 29 games before the return of Wil Myers forced the Padres to send him back to El Paso at the end of June.

Reyes gained both the admiration and ire of Padres fans with his production at the big league level. While he mashed six home runs into orbit and began to show more patience at the plate/ability to rocket singles into the outfield near the end of his first tenure, he also stuck out in over 40% of his at-bats, hitting just .228 with a .260 on-base percentage.

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There was also his play in the outfield, which was exactly what you would expect from a 6’5″240-pound masher. Regardless, Reyes showed progression at the plate in his limited time in the bigs.

That progression hasn’t exactly continued with his return trip to El Paso. Over his last 10 games, he is hitting .282 with 11 walks in 50 plate appearances. In three of those 10 games, he struck out multiple times, including two three-strikeout performances. The on-base numbers are a positive sign but the lack of extra-base hits, while playing at home in El Paso, isn’t great news. However, at this point, we’re nit-picking at a few games in AAA, a level that he has clearly proven himself in.

While we are just a few days away from the trade deadline and the Padres figure to be active, there appear to be no signs pointing to a potential trade, requiring the need for another outfielder on the active roster. As Dennis Lin states in his above tweet, there very well could be an injury to an outfielder on the current 25-man roster.

Next: Wil Myers Doesn't Need To Be Traded

The story has been updated above to reflect the corresponding roster move. Thankfully, no injuries. As far as the trading activity…TBD.