After dealing with a nagging quad injury, a hand wound due to an errand pitch, and a slower than usual start to April (.182 BA with 8 hits from 4/5 to 4/18) Mark Reynolds is heating up rather nicely affording fantasy owners a current six game hitting streak.
Within that streak Reynolds has hit 4 home runs, driven in a whopping 13 RBI, and has 6 additional runs scored, placing him a very close second among league leaders in RBI, and home runs.
The slow start took owners by surprise, but this recent surge of fantasy output shouldn’t really be a shocker. What is noteworthy is the fact that owners probably had a terrible time deciding whether to sit or start Reynolds with the recent injuries that were surrounding him.
Still, going forward you may have some mixed result from Reynolds due to a couple of key factors you should know about:
- The series against the Rockies this week will feature Ubaldo Jimenez, and his next to nothing ERA of 0.95, on Tuesday night. While Coors Field is a great hitter’s park, Jimenez is not so hitter friendly. BUT the other two pitchers slated for the Rockies (Jason Hammel and Greg Smith) have a combined W/L record of 1-3 and a combined ERA of 6.64; so there is something to take advantage of on Monday and Wednesday.
- After the Rockies, the D-Backs face the surging Cubs, which could mean a dry time for Reynolds. In his career against the Cubs, Reynolds is .124/.224/.172 with only 7 Hits and a startling 32 SO in 58 AB. If that’s not enough, the first two Cubbies he will face is Ted Lilly, and the red hot Randy Wells.Lilly is coming off a near perfect first outing after off-season surgery, tossing 6 scoreless innings with only 3 hits in route to his first win. Wells is just as dangerous riding a 2-0 record with a 2.49 ERA.
The prognosis on Mark Reynolds is this:
In the next 6 games there will be a couple of golden opportunities to take advantage of, but there will also be a couple of games you may want to sit him in favor of another power bat, should you have one at your disposal.
Only grab what you need from Reynolds for the next week, don’t just start him for the sake of it. A properly managed roster, is a productive roster.
In case you missed the news regarding Chris Davis and Justin Smoak of the Rangers we have you covered, and feel free to visit our NFL section for all of our 2010 NFL Draft coverage.
