As counterintuitive as it sounds, the goal for a player like Low-A Delmarva third baseman Jomar Reyes isn't to go up looking to hit home runs.
He can, of course — Reyes might have the most raw power in the Orioles' system despite having turned 18 in February. But as Reyes makes his full-season debut for the Shorebirds, manager Ryan Minor said he's been pleased with the hulking third baseman's plate approach, which doesn't involve swinging for the fences.
"At the plate, he shows [his power] in [batting practice], and it's starting to translate a little bit into the game, when the game speeds up a little bit," Minor said Tuesday, when the Shorebirds were in Hagerstown to face the Suns. "We've been pleasantly surprised at the way he took his approach from spring training and changed a few things to the game up here. Once the season started, even in the cold weather and being in a new place — he's never been out of Florida before, playing under the lights — he's done a good job making that transition."
Minor said Reyes' at-bats through the first two weeks of the season could be characterized by the hard contact he made, and moments later during batting practice, Reyes' line-drive swing from the right side lost several baseballs over the center-field fence. (The wind was blowing straight out, but the contact sounded like it would produce over-the-fence power regardless).
"He's hit some balls right on the nose, probably could have had a couple home runs in Delmarva but when you hit the ball to right-center there as a right-handed hitter, they usually turn into doubles or triples," Minor said. "But it's going to come, he's going to have some success. He's got some balls that he's hit really hard on the nose for line drive outs. We're fine with that as long as he doesn't try to hit home runs, and so far he hasn't. they're going to come. He's big enough and strong enough that he's going to get a mistake here and they're going to go out of the ballpark."
That ended up happening that night, when Reyes took a fastball over the plate right back down the middle to dead center for his first South Atlantic League home run. Entering Friday's game, Reyes is batting .313/.400/.521 with six extra-base hits and four RBIs in 14 games. He has hits in 10 of his 14 contests,
Listed at 6 feet 3, 220 pounds — but almost assuredly bigger than that — Reyes will need to improve drastically in the field to stay at third base. His body and athleticism might push him to first, but with reports like that from his manager, and the potential for his raw power to translate into games, the bat will likely play wherever he needs to line up in the field.
Vader bombs
Right-hander Sebastian Vader made his first start of the season for High-A Frederick, and since being sent back to Delmarva a week ago, has pitched like he'd like to return to the Carolina League right away. Vader's first South Atlantic League start of 2015 was six-inning, one-run outing at Greensboro, and he followed that up by blanking the Grasshoppers over seven innings on Thursday.
Vader split his time between Delmarva and Frederick last year, and looks to break into the Keys' rotation full-time this year after posting a 3.04 ERA in 13 starts with Delmarva last year.
Tough luck for Grimes
Right-hander Matthew Grimes, who leads the Shorebirds with 15 strikeouts through Friday, had some bad luck early in the season that ballooned his ERA to an undeserved 6.75 through three starts. Grimes struck out seven in 4 1/3 innings in his debut on April 12, with three of the five earned runs he was charged with coming on after he left with the bases loaded in that outing. Granted, he put them on, but half of the eight base runners he allowed came in his last inning of work.
Five days later, Grimes again was strong through three before he got wild in the fourth inning and four runs scored. He limited the damage on the second time through the lineup in his most recent start, on Wednesday against Hagerstown, and ended up striking out six in five innings of one-run work. Grimes has a lively low-90s fastball and uses three pitches, but the second and third time through the lineup will be where his future is determined.