Happy to be healthy, out on field again
As the Orioles learn how to deploy the five outfielders at their disposal, Nolan Reimold’s role has remained pretty static this season. He gets starts against left-handed pitchers, comes in as a defensive replacement and sometimes pinch-runs.
He went 8-for-38 (.211) in June, bringing his average down from .300 to .271. But when putting his role and how he’s playing into perspective with the myriad injuries that derailed so much of his career, Reimold is able to find a smile through it all.
You’ve already admitted to looking ahead through the opposing probable pitchers and noting when there are lefties starting. Does a role like that ever get easier, though?
I can kind of see when I’m playing or not. You come to the field ready to play every day, obviously, but it’s pretty much the biggest thing is just always being ready to play.
Do you allow yourself time during the grind of the season to think about being back and healthy with the Orioles after everything that happened?
I mean, I came back from a lot, but now that I’m here I really just want to try to excel at whatever role I’m given. That’s my role, so I do what I can, be ready to play and continue to work. That’s what everybody does.
How close, physically, do you feel to the player you were when you first came up to the majors?
I don’t know. That was so long ago I can’t remember. [laughs] You know, you have better days than others. It’s the grind of the season . ... It’s something everybody deals with, and I just want to prolong the good times and shorten the bad.