Here's the assignment: Construct the perfect ballplayer for the city of Baltimore.
Start with attitude. He's got to be a hustling dirt dog willing to play banged up for this blue-collar town. That's a given. Now, put a chip on his broad shoulders. Let him think the power brokers afford him little respect — like Baltimore in Washington's shadow — so he'll work harder.
He must be community-minded and courteous to the fans, and have a goofy side, too. Make him good-looking enough for the teenage girls to swoon, but not a pretty boy. How about occasionally shaggy hair and an easy smile connected to a fullback's body? Toss in some local ties, you know, so he understands what this region is all about.
He needs power, speed, baseball smarts and a good glove. Shoddy defense won't be tolerated. He should play on the left side of the infield, right? That's where Brooks Robinson and Cal Ripken Jr. reigned. Both played third eventually, so let's put him on the hot corner.
Mix it all together with enough youth to improve his game and enough experience to boast a track record. Now, pull the switch. What you've created is 27-year-old Mark Reynolds, the Orioles' new starting third baseman for at least the next two seasons.
"Reynolds is a guy that has got what the Orioles have needed for a long time: power at third base. He's already proven that," said MASN broadcaster and former Oriole Rick Dempsey. "If the work ethic is really good and he makes himself an average to above-average third baseman, the sky is the limit in Baltimore for him."
Raised in Virginia Beach, Reynolds was Arizona's 16th-round pick out of Virginia in 2004. Desperate for a power bat, the Orioles traded promising relievers David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio to the rebuilding Diamondbacks for Reynolds in December. At first blush, he looks like he could be a perfect fit in Charm City.
"He is an East Coast-type player. He wants to be on 'Sunday Night Baseball' and he wants to play in front of big crowds and on TV," said Kelly Johnson, the Diamondbacks' starting second baseman. "You'll see him get dirty. He dives into the stands after balls. He has a knack for the three-run homer."
Sounds perfect. Now step away from your creation for a moment. Inspect his flaws.
Notice that he batted .198 last year, when he became the only position player in baseball history to have a higher number of strikeouts (211) than his official batting average. Realize that no other player has fanned more than 200 times in a season; Reynolds has done it for three consecutive years. Know that in 2008 he made 35 errors, alarming for a corner infielder.
And understand that things have not gone swimmingly for Reynolds as an Oriole this spring. While experimenting with adding a leg kick that he has since scrapped, Reynolds has struggled to hit above .200 and didn't homer until Thursday night, his 52nd at-bat of the spring.
It's only March, but a disastrous implosion from a once-ballyhooed corner infielder coming over from the National League is not foreign in these parts. Mention Glenn Davis, who was traded by the Houston Astros in 1991 for three future All-Stars, and a generation of Orioles fans shudders.
Last year, the Orioles took a chance on former Colorado Rockies slugger Garrett Atkins, who made $4.5 million and hit one homer in 140 at-bats before being released in July. After Reynolds' slow start this spring, some commenters on Internet message boards worried that he is another Atkins2.0.
Dempsey doesn't see that happening, partly because Reynolds doesn't need to be an offensive savior with the acquisition of designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero, first baseman Derrek Lee and shortstop J.J.Hardy. Last year, Atkins and an aging Miguel Tejada were the only offensive additions to the starting lineup.
"There's not the pressure on Reynolds to be 'the guy' like there was with Atkins last year. The pressure is not on him to be a main figure," Dempsey said. "It can be a team effort in taking over the city again. Baltimore is so anxious and so ready for a ballclub to sink its teeth into."
New beginning
This could be a fresh start for Reynolds, who hit .260 with 44 home runs and 102 RBIs in 2009, and signed a three-year, $14.5 million contract extension with the Diamondbacks last March.
Thought to be a franchise cornerstone, Reynolds was traded after a new regime, led by general manager Kevin Towers, decided to improve the club's depth while shedding payroll.
"I loved Phoenix. I loved playing there. I loved the organization and the fans," Reynolds said. "But I understand it is a business, and I understand that they either got sick of me or they needed to free up salary. I get it. It's a welcomed change to be back home."
His relationship with Diamondbacks fans was, he said, "love-hate, I think."
"They loved me when I was hitting homers; they hated me when I was striking out," Reynolds said. "But I think they came to understand who I was as a player, and the Baltimore fans are going to have to understand that. But I am working to be more consistent and, hopefully, be a better player."
Working to improve is a common thread in Reynolds' career. He's never been the superstar. As a youth he played on a travel team in Hampton Roads, Va., that included current big leaguers David Wright, Ryan Zimmerman and B.J. Upton.
He was a skinny kid — about 170 pounds in high school, though he's 230 now — who was nicknamed "Skeletor" for his thin frame and "Forrest Gump" for his awkward running style.
"The legs, the running, actually the whole running form, all of it. We just all called him Forrest Gump for forever," Upton said, laughing. "Mark wasn't always as big as he is now, but he has always been a hard worker. Obviously, it paid off."
Zimmerman, who was a year behind Reynolds, was the star at Virginia, picked fifth overall by the Washington Nationals in 2005. But Zimmerman had to move to third base because Reynolds already had established himself as the Cavaliers' starting shortstop.
"He had the same power in college, the same swing, the same everything," Zimmerman said. "He just loves baseball. That's what he does. He feels very fortunate to be where he's at."
In 2007, the Diamondbacks promoted Reynolds from Double-A to be a temporary injury replacement. He hit so well they couldn't get him out of the lineup. In his 10th big league game, he went 5-for-5, fell a double short of a cycle and hit two home runs, including a mammoth shot that carried 447 feet.
"That was something crazy," Diamondbacks outfielder Chris Young said. "And ever since that point, he just continued to take off. He earned his spot and never went back down."
After 2008, when he made all those errors, he knew he had to improve defensively. So he spent hours with Diamondbacks coach and former big leaguer Matt Williams on his footwork, angles on grounders and anything else that could make him a better defender. Last year, Reynolds made 18 errors, roughly half the miscues he'd committed two seasons earlier.
"He wants to learn, he wants to get better, he wants to be as good of a player as he can be," Williams said. "He has turned the corner to the point that he understands what a complete player is and how important it is to work on things like defense."
Williams said it's hard to gauge Reynolds' overall game based on 2010, because he battled injuries all season yet still played 145 games. A quad injury limited him early and a late-season thumb sprain made squeezing a bat, or grabbing his helmet, painful.
All those strikeouts
In August, he was hit in the head by a pitch and started the next day. Reynolds is the only player Williams has seen dive into the stands for a foul ball on three consecutive nights. Still, for all his toughness, it's difficult to not think first about his prodigious strikeout numbers.
He fanned a major league-record 204 times in 2008, broke the mark with 223 in 2009 and had 211 in 2010. He'll likely shatter the Orioles' franchise record of 160 by Mickey Tettleton in 1990. New Orioles hitting coach Jim Presley said the strikeouts are a concern and a challenge, but he's not going to hammer Reynolds for swinging and missing.
"If you sit there and harp on that, I think that's a negative," Presley said. "There are enough negative things in this game. I just want to be positive with him. … What we need him to do is get those two-out base hits and drive in 80, 90, 100 RBIs."
Reynolds said he's accepted the strikeouts as part of his game, but he's continually working with Presley on making more contact. If he can increase the number of balls he puts in play, he figures he'll get his average up to a respectable level.
He's even OK with talking about the whiffs these days.
"No reporter would be doing their job if they didn't ask me about it," he said. "It's three straight years of 200-plus strikeouts."
That refreshing, honest attitude is appreciated by teammates. Reynolds doesn't shy away from queries, even when they might be embarrassing. Reynolds is a huge fan of comedian Ellen DeGeneres' talk show, something Johnson always teased him about.
"I love 'Ellen,'" Reynolds acknowledged sheepishly. "My wife watches it. I started watching it, and [DeGeneres] does this thing called 'Know or Go,' where she asks a question and if you don't know the answer you drop through a hole in the stage. It's funny. … I was trying to get on the show. I guess you have to be big-time."
Although Reynolds has been somewhat reserved so far with the Orioles, that may change as the season progresses. Johnson says Reynolds "doesn't take himself too seriously." Upton calls him "a riot; a really good guy to be around."
Said Young, "Expect to see a lot of laughs and smiles in Baltimore."
So, Reynolds is upfront and off-center. He's a passionate, hardworking gamer. And he's perceptive.
"Obviously, if I get [to Camden Yards] and am diving all over the place and am not hitting, then the coaches aren't even going to like me," he said.
A monster season at the plate though, and a new fan favorite springs to life.
"That would be awesome," Reynolds said. "Nobody has really seen me play in Baltimore, in the AL, the East Coast. So I'll just kind of come here and try to change my persona as a player, as far as the whole strikeout thing, the average thing. Maybe I don't. Maybe I am the same guy, but it's just going to be one of those wait-and-see things."
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Reynolds at a glance
•Born Aug. 3, 1983 in Pikeville, Ky.
•Grew up in Virginia Beach
Graduated in 2001 from First Colonial High
•Attended Virginia from 2002 to 2004; ranks among Cavaliers leaders in several career and single-season categories
•Was second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference his junior year as the Cavaliers tied a school record with 44 wins overall and 18 ACC victories
•Drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 16th round of the 2004 amateur draft
•Played four seasons in Arizona
•Finished fourth in National League with 44 home runs in 2009, sixth with 32 in 2010
•Led NL in strikeouts in 2008 (204), 2009 (223) and 2010 (211); no other player has ever struck out more than 200 times in a season
•Signed a three-year contract through 2012 with Diamondbacks worth $13.5 million
•Acquired by the Orioles on Dec. 6, 2010, in exchange for David Hernandez and Kameron Mickolio
•He and his wife, Kathleen, have a son, Jacob
•Active in ziMS Foundation, a charitable organization started by the Washington Nationals' Ryan Zimmerman (a teammate at Virginia) for multiple sclerosis
Sources: Orioles.com and BaseballReference.com