The Reds lineup that takes the field against the Arizona Diamonbacks on Tuesday includes four players who were not with the Reds when spring training started in Goodyear, Arizona.
Albert Almora Jr., Brandon Drury and Tommy Pham were signed after the late start of spring trainining. Matt Reynolds came from the New York Mets after the season started.
Almora, 28, was a budding start in the Chicago Cubs organization. He was the Cubs first pick in the 2012 draft out of Mater Acadamy Charter School in Hialeah, Florida. He made it to the big leagues in 2016. Almora has a .267 lifetime average but is hitting a cool .308 for the Reds in 21 games this season.
The Reds signed him to a minor league contract on March 20 but Tyler Naquin, Jake Fraley, Aristides Aquino, Nick Senzel and Pham made the team out of spring training to fill in the core of outfielders. Almara started the season on the Lsville Injured list.
His contract was selected on May 4 as Fraley, Naquin and Senzel spent time on the injured list.
"He is an instincual player. He has a lot of experience. He is 28 but he plays like he's been around a long time," David Bell said. "He's been through a lot. A lot of players don't come into their own until they are 30."
Almora can do a lot of things. He is a good defensive player and base runner.
"He has made a lot of improvements at the plate that he believes in. They are showing up," Bell said.
Drury signed a minor league contract with the Reds on March 21. He made the team out of spring training. Drury, who spent three seasons with the Diamondbacks, had a special relationship with Mike Bell. Mike was David's brother, who died of cancer last spring, was the Diamondback's head of player development. Drury has played in 47 of the Reds' 55 games. He leads the team with 11 home runs and has a .266 batting average with 30 RBI, Drury got the opportunity through injuries to Mike Moustakas, Jonathan India and Jose Barrero.
Pham was signed on March 26. He was a prospect who became a regular with the St. Louis Cardinals when Bell was a coach in the organization.
'After a slow start from a short spring, Pham didn't have a hit in his first six games. He was 0-for-19. Pham has brought his average up to .244 with six home runs and 21 RBI by hitting at a .270 clip.
Reynolds started the season with Syracuse, the Mets Triple A team. He was called up on April 10 but designated for assignment on April 20. The Reds' claimed him on waivers on April 24.
Since joining the Reds, Reynolds is hitting .275 in 33 games with two home runs and nine RBI.
"These guys really stepped in and made the most of their opportunities," Bell said. "Our front office put a lot of time and effort into understanding these players and where they fit in. Sometimes it is just depth. Sometimes it turns out that these guys are major contributors. It is kind of rare for this to happen but it shows how important each and every guy that we sign can be. Not often do you have this many openings or opportunities for these guys to step in."
The openings are the product of 15 players on the Injureed List. The Reds are a dismal 19-35 coming into the game but since a 3-22 start the Reds are 16-13.
"I have no idea where we would be if these guys hadn't stepped in," Bell said.
No comments:
Post a Comment