Mark Reyes

Position: LHSP
Level: High A
Affiliate: San Jose Giants
League:
Age: 23 yrs, 9m
Height: 6'1
Weight: 225
B/T: Right / Left
Acquired: 22nd Rd., 2014 MLB First-Year Player Draft (SFG)

Prospect Spotlight

Reyes, a 22nd-round pick for the Giants in 2014, has a stocky body that includes a thick lower half. The thickness Reyes shows isn’t being overweight, but more because he’s fully matured, and has built up strength in his backside and legs. When I first saw him I figured that his size may be a deterrent to his success, but Reyes moved around decently, and at times was able to cruise through innings. But there were also innings where he struggled to make it through the inning, like he did in his last inning when it looked like he was out of gas and threw nine straight balls at one point.

Reyes’ delivery has limited repeatability, with a high leg kick before a slight pause and full back turn at the top of the mound before coming downhill. His arm has a full, long circle, and comes out of a high 3/4’s release point and finishes in a strong fielding position, though the ball was easily picked up behind his back during his motion. This may explain the increase in his numbers this year (80 H, 35 BB, eight HRs through 81 IP in 2016 compared to 115 H, 36 BB, one HR in 139.2 IP in 2015 at Class A Augusta) as better hitters have been able to track the ball early and recognize the pitch. He also did not do a good job of holding runners (1.38-1.44 seconds to the plate), and allowed a few stolen bases in the game.

Reyes does a good job of using his strong lower half to get down the hill, but struggled with erratic command during my look against Modesto. There were times where he would get to 1-0 or 2-0 counts and looked like he gave up on the at-bat and would walk a guy on four pitches that weren’t close. He ended up with four walks over six innings, and only threw 53 strikes in 91 pitches in this look.

He worked with a fastball that sat 86-to-90 mph (T91), but it was mainly around the letters/waist and regularly missed up in the zone. He threw a lot of two-seam fastballs that, when controlled, had good arm side run with a little bit of sink as well. He wasn’t consistent getting to the glove side with the fastball, recognized it, and tried to utilize his slider to get to this location. The slider sat 84-to-87 mph and he was able to change its shape – at its best when thrown harder, making it sweep across the plate with some bite to the glove side, but he limited the movement when he slowed it down and got his hand around the pitch. His curveball (75-to-80 mph) flashed average, with some good 12-to-6 break, but it was inconsistent and commanded poorly. He threw the pitch mainly to his arm side and it looked its best when coming after the sweeping slider. Both pitches come from a similar path, and he did a good job of picking his spots with it to increase its effectiveness. Reyes also had a changeup (80-to-82 mph), but wasn’t thrown often. When he did throw it, the pitch had some sink, but it was thrown without much feel or command.

During my look, Reyes was most consistent against lefties, and I could see his stuff playing up against them in the bullpen. In that role he could utilize his two-seam fastball in on hitters, and follow that up with the hard slider away or curveball down. Ultimately, Reyes profiles as a long reliever, where his looks would be limited to once or twice through a lineup and his fringy fastball could sit towards its higher velocity.