The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Reyes improving his defense
Outfielder wants to be more versatile in 2020
Franmil Reyes is serious about becoming a better defensive outfielder so Indians manager Terry Francona can be more versatile deciding who should be the designated hitter game to game. How serious?
Reyes spent the offseason in his hometown of Palenque in the Dominican Republic. Every morning he would leave Palenque at 7 a.m. and make the 90-minute drive to the Indians’ Academia de Prospecto Complex in San Antonio de Guerra, D.R. He made the 108-mile round trip in the country deemed the most dangerous to drive in in the western hemisphere to sharpen his baseball skills for the upcoming season.
“I’d have a little bit of stretch, then I used to swing in the cage, then I’d do about 30 minutes of defense,” Reyes said a day before Tribe Fest earlier this month. “Then I’d do some drills and agility stuff in the gym.
“I am happy to say I am in the right spot. I feel great. I hope this 2020 season is full of blessings. I am 100 percent sure (he’ll be ready to play the outfield). I lost 18 pounds to be quicker in the outfield if I get the opportunity. Anywhere they put me I’m going to try my best and do my job.”
Reyes said his defensive routine at the Academia de Prospecto Complex started with fielding ground balls then progressed to moving side to side catching fly balls and reading balls off the bat.
The Indians acquired Reyes from the Padres on July 31 last year as part of a three-team trade. The Indians traded pitcher Trevor Bauer to Cincinnati for outfielder Yasiel Puig and left-handed pitcher Scott Moss. The Reds sent outfielder Taylor Trammel to the Padres. The Indians got left-handed pitcher Logan Allen and infielder Victor Nova along with Reyes from San Diego.
Puig is an out-of-work free agent. Logan, Nova and Moss might help the Indians somewhere down the road.
For now, the Indians are counting on Reyes’ powerful bat to make the Bauer trade a success. And if he can play the outfield, too, so much the better. A starting outfield of Reyes, Oscar Mercado and Delino DeShields or Domingo Santana could be productive for the Tribe.
“He has to be one of our best outfielders, or at least to the point where we know it doesn’t set us
back because we have a DH spot, and we’re not going to put somebody in that DH spot that’s a superior player to somebody,” manager Terry Francona said before Tribe Fest. “It makes no sense to do that. There’s a trade-off in that you move that DH spot around a little bit. We can move guys into it to give him some rest, but we also need to catch the ball.”
The plan is to use Reyes in right field and left field in Cactus League games, Francona said. He will not be used in center field.
Reyes, 6-foot-5, 258 pounds, turns 25 on July 7. He played 51 games for the Indians last season after the trade. He was the designated hitter in 45 of them, the right fielder in three and the left fielder in three others.
Reyes was slow to adjust to his new environment after the shock of being traded by the Padres. He hit 10 home runs and drove in 35 runs for the Indians while batting .237. Francona expects more power this season.
“He’s still fairly young in his career, so we don’t know where he ends up,” Francona said. “I would be surprised if he doesn’t hit a ton of home runs. He’ll have a little more of a comfort level this year, more than he did last year, not being the new guy and trying too hard, so I think you’ll see the real Franmil, whatever that is, from the beginning.”
The intentional weight loss has not resulted in diminished power, Reyes said. In fact, the opposite is true.
“Honestly, I was scared of that,” Reyes admitted. “When I took a break in December and came back in January, how I was hitting the ball, I never hit like that before. I feel really powerful right now.”
Full squad workouts for the Indians begin Feb. 17 in Goodyear, Ariz. There will not be many days when Franmil Reyes keeps his glove in his locker.