Matt Reynolds brought depth to the Mets’ wounded infield in 2016

On May 17, the Mets called up shortstop Matt Reynolds from Triple-A Las Vegas and added him to the major league roster. The former second-round draft pick has been a highly touted prospect since signing with the Mets in 2012, and really began to turn heads after hitting a combined .343/.405/.454 in 2014 between Double-A and Triple-A. In 2016, Reynolds was having a down year in Las Vegas, hitting .238/.303/.369 in 130 at-bats before getting his first call-up to the majors. With the Mets, the infielder provided a reliable glove, with multiple appearances at shortstop, second base, and third base. Reynolds was back and forth between Triple-A and the Mets for the remainder of the season, and over 47 games in the big leagues he hit .225/.266/.416 with three home runs and 13 RBIs in 89 at-bats.

A bright spot for Reynolds in 2016 was his multi-hit performance against the Reds on September 5. After being back down with Las Vegas since August 13, he had to take a cross-country red-eye flight to get to Cincinnati. Running on less than two hours of sleep, Reynolds homered in his first at-bat. He finished with a 3-for-4 day at the plate and contributed meaningfully to a 5-0 win for New York.

Through the Mets’ injury-riddled season, Reynolds provided depth and dependable defense to the major league roster. Looking toward 2017, the Mets’ infield will hopefully consist of David Wright, Asdrubal Cabrera, Neil Walker, and Lucas Duda around the horn, though all four missed time—in some cases substantially—last season. Jose Reyes and Wilmer Flores figure to be utility infielders off the bench. T.J. Rivera made his case in 2016 to be added into the mix as well next year, so Reynolds will have his work cut out for him to find his way back into the Mets lineup.