Matt Reynolds: Former Mets Infielder (2015 - 2017)
The six-foot one right-handed short stop / second baseman attended the University of Arkansas playing third base for the Razorbacks. There he led the team in HRs (7) & RBIs (45) while batting .323.
Reynolds was selected by the New York Mets in his Junior year, as a second-round pick, a pick they received from the Florida Marlins from the Jose Reyes signing.
In 2012, Reynolds began his Mets career at A ball Savannah Sand Gnats hitting .259 in 42 games. By 2013 he was a full-time short stop for the A ball St. Lucie Mets, hitting just .226 with 5 HRs & 46 RBIs.
Even though he didn't hit well, he still made an impression on the organization. At the end of the season, he got a one game promotion to AA Binghamton.
In 2014 his bat came to life, as he hit .355 for the AA Binghamton Mets while posting a .430 on base %, collecting 75 hits & 29 walks in 211 at bats. He didn't have much power hitting just one HR with five doubles & 21 RBIs. Reynolds was pushed up to AAA Las Vegas filling Dilson Herrera's roster spot as Dilson went North to New York. In 68 games at Las Vegas, he hit .333 with 5 HRs 16 doubles 4 triples & 40 RBIs. He posted a .385 on base % which gave him a combined .405 % on the season.
2015 Spring Training: Reynolds was invited to the Mets 2015 Spring Training camp; he started out by hitting well turning a lot of heads. In the first week of play he hit a walk off HR to beat the Detroit Tigers. The talk started up that he may compete with Wilmer Flores & Ruben Tejada for the Mets short stop position.Quotes- Matt Reynolds: “I came in here with the attitude I’m going to compete my butt off to try to win the job, I am just going to come here and compete every day, and by me competing I’m making Flo’ better, I’m making Tejada better and vice versa. By us competing together it makes us stronger & better players."
Reynolds spent 2015 at AAA Las Vegas batting .267 with 6 HRs 32 doubles & 65 RBIs in 115 games.
2015 Post Season: In the NLDS, Mets short stop Ruben Tejada suffered an injury after a dirty slide into him at second base by Chase Utley. The collision forced MLB to change the rules on sliding into bases. The Mets needed a roster spot filled & Reynolds was promoted to the 2015 Mets post season roster. He was added as insurance if the Mets needed an infielder.
After the Pennant: Reynolds began 2016 at AAA Las Vegas but would make three trips up to the Mets big league squad. On May 17th, he made his big-league debut playing third base in a Mets 2-0 win over the Nationals.
On May 25th, he collected his first big league hit in another 2-0 Mets win over the Nat's. When Wilmer Flores came off the DL, Reynolds was sent back down to AAA Las Vegas. He returned when David Wright went down with his injury.
On June 18th Reynolds came to bat in the top of the 11th inning & lined out to short. On the play a force was made at second, but Asdrubal Cabrera scored in what was the game winning run. On June 22nd in a matchup of the previous World Series, Matt hit a 6th inning HR off the Royals Joakim Soria, in what once again turned out to be the winning run in the 4-3 Mets win.
On September 5th he hit his third HR of the season, it came on a big three hit day in a 5-0 win at Cincinnati. Reynolds ended the year batting .225 with 3 HRs 8 doubles & 13 RBIs in 47 games (89 at bats). He played 21 games at short, seven at third, four at second base & even one in the outfield.
He ended 2017 batting .230 with 1 HR one double, two triples & five RBIs in 68 games. On the field the versatile Reynolds, played 23 games at third base, ten at short, eight at second & in the outfield.
Mets Again: He resigned with the Mets in December 2021 & was added to the roster when two players went on the Covid list. He made one appearance for them as a defensive replacement on April 16th in a 3-2 loss to Arizona. At the end of April he was placed on waivers.
2015 Post Season: In the NLDS, Mets short stop Ruben Tejada suffered an injury after a dirty slide into him at second base by Chase Utley. The collision forced MLB to change the rules on sliding into bases. The Mets needed a roster spot filled & Reynolds was promoted to the 2015 Mets post season roster. He was added as insurance if the Mets needed an infielder.Trivia: Matt became the first player (in modern history) to be added to a post season roster in the middle of post season series without having any MLB experience & just the third player overall to be added to a post season roster without any MLB experience.
He did not play in any games & was left off the World Series roster, as Juan Uribe took his spot.
He did not play in any games & was left off the World Series roster, as Juan Uribe took his spot.
After the Pennant: Reynolds began 2016 at AAA Las Vegas but would make three trips up to the Mets big league squad. On May 17th, he made his big-league debut playing third base in a Mets 2-0 win over the Nationals. On May 25th, he collected his first big league hit in another 2-0 Mets win over the Nat's. When Wilmer Flores came off the DL, Reynolds was sent back down to AAA Las Vegas. He returned when David Wright went down with his injury.
On June 18th Reynolds came to bat in the top of the 11th inning & lined out to short. On the play a force was made at second, but Asdrubal Cabrera scored in what was the game winning run. On June 22nd in a matchup of the previous World Series, Matt hit a 6th inning HR off the Royals Joakim Soria, in what once again turned out to be the winning run in the 4-3 Mets win. Subway Series HR: On August 1st, with the Mets down 3-2 in the 6th inning of a subway series game, he hit a three run HR off CC Sabathia putting the Mets ahead in what would turn out to be a 6-5 loss.
On September 5th he hit his third HR of the season, it came on a big three hit day in a 5-0 win at Cincinnati. Reynolds ended the year batting .225 with 3 HRs 8 doubles & 13 RBIs in 47 games (89 at bats). He played 21 games at short, seven at third, four at second base & even one in the outfield.In the off season, he underwent a wrist debridement at the Hospital for Special Surgery.
In 2017 Matt would play for both the Mets (68 games) & AAA Las Vegas (33 games) never getting that permanent spot in the infield, that looked so promising two years ago. At AAA Las Vegas he batted .320 but never hit like that at the big-league level.
Reynolds first got to the Mets big league team at the end of April, collecting a hit in his first game of the year. On May 21st he hit his only HR of the year, it came against the L.A. Angels in a 12-5 Mets loss. He collected three of his five RBIs of the year in mid-August after returning back from another short stint at AAA Las Vegas.
He ended 2017 batting .230 with 1 HR one double, two triples & five RBIs in 68 games. On the field the versatile Reynolds, played 23 games at third base, ten at short, eight at second & in the outfield. Post Mets Career: On February 12th, 2018, his contract was purchased by the Washington Nationals. There he played in just 12 games batting .154.
In 86 games at AAA Syracuse, he hit .265 & was designated for assignment in January 2019. Reynolds signed a minor league deal with the Kansas City & appeared in three games with the 2020 Royals going hitless in 11 at bats.
Mets Again: He resigned with the Mets in December 2021 & was added to the roster when two players went on the Covid list. He made one appearance for them as a defensive replacement on April 16th in a 3-2 loss to Arizona. At the end of April he was placed on waivers.Post Mets Again: He got picked up by the Reds where he played in 92 games batting .246 as a utility infielder. In 2023 he played in just two games at the big-league level & was a free agent after the season ended.
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