The Padres are going to promote right-hander Sean Reynolds, reports Craig Mish of the Miami Herald. The righty will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. He’s already on San Diego’s 40-man roster but the club will need to open an active roster spot.
Reynolds, 26, was a fourth-round pick of the Marlins back in 2016. He was drafted as a hitter but never did much hitting. In over 1,000 minor league plate appearances, he struck out at a 43.8% clip and slashed .178/.287/.344, never getting higher than Single-A.
He moved to the mound in 2021 and has been having more success in that role. He tossed 84 1/3 innings on the farm over 2021 and 2022 with a 3.74 earned run average and 27.7% strikeout rate. The 12.6% walk rate was a bit high but understandable for a guy fairly new to pitching.
The Marlins were intrigued enough to add him to their 40-man roster at the end of 2022, keeping Reynolds out of that year’s Rule 5 draft. He tossed another 48 2/3 innings in Miami’s farm system last year, between Double-A and Triple-A. In that time, he had a 2.77 ERA, 26.3% strikeout rate and 11.2% walk rate. He was also briefly promoted to the majors but didn’t get into a game.
The Padres were impressed enough to acquire Reynolds alongside Garrett Cooper in the trade that sent Ryan Weathers to the Marlins. Reynolds struggled with the move, allowing 24 earned runs in 16 innings after the deal last year.
He’s been in better form this year, but with the underlying numbers being more impressive than the surface ones. He has tossed 45 1/3 Triple-A innings this year with a 6.55 ERA, 28.3% strikeout rate and 14.6% walk rate. His .365 batting average on balls in play and 57.2% strand rate are both on the unlucky side, so perhaps his 4.62 FIP is a better indicator of how he’s pitched in the Pacific Coast League this year. Control is clearly still a work in progress, but Reynolds seems to have strikeout stuff, so the Padres will give him a shot to miss major league bats.
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