Matt Reynolds (infielder)

Matt Reynolds
250px Reynolds with the New York Mets in 2016
New York Mets – No. 15
Third baseman / Shortstop
Born: (1990-12-03) December 3, 1990 Tulsa, Oklahoma
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
May 17, 2016, for the New York Mets
MLB statistics (through May 28, 2016)
Batting average	.100
Home runs	0
Runs batted in	0
Teams
New York Mets (2016–present)

Matthew William Reynolds (born December 3, 1990) is an American professional baseball infielder for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB).

College career

Reynolds bats at the 2012 CWS

Reynolds attended Bishop Kelley High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He played both baseball and basketball and received interest from Iowa State, Furman and Butler to play college basketball. He decided, however, to play college baseball for the Arkansas Razorbacks at the University of Arkansas. He played for Arkansas as a third baseman from 2010 to 2012 and hit .275/.382/.413 with 11 home runs and 72 runs batted in over 150 career games.

Professional career

Reynolds was drafted by the New York Mets in the second round of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft. The Mets moved Reynolds to shortstop after he signed. He made his professional debut that season for the Savannah Sand Gnats, hitting .259 with 3 home runs in 42 games. In 2013, Reynolds played in 117 games for the St. Lucie Mets and one game for the Double-A Binghamton Mets. He hit a disappointing .225 with five home runs. Reynolds started the 2014 season back with Binghamton and was promoted to the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s after hitting .355 in 58 games. With the 51s, he finished 2015 with a batting average of .267, 65 RBIs, and 6 home runs in 115 games.

He spent the 2015 regular season in Triple-A before being called up to the Mets during the 2015 NLDS as a replacement for the injured Rubén Tejada. In doing so, he became the first player in modern baseball history to be added to a postseason roster in the middle of a series without previous major-league experience. He also became the third player in modern baseball history to be included on a postseason roster without previous major-league experience, after Chet Trail of the New York Yankees in the 1964 World Series (not on the active roster) and Mark Kiger of the Oakland Athletics in the 2006 American League Championship Series. He was dropped from the roster for the World Series and did not appear in any games in the playoffs and was replaced by Juan Uribe. The fourth player to be added to a postseason roster without any majors experience, Raúl A. Mondesí, was added to the Royals' World Series roster the same day Reynolds was removed.

The Mets promoted Reynolds to the major leagues on May 17, 2016 against the Washington Nationals. He made his MLB debut starting at third base for the Mets that night after David Wright was scratched from the lineup. He went 0-3 with one strikeout. On May 25, Reynolds picked up his first major league hit, a single, leading off the fifth inning off Nationals' pitcher Tanner Roark. He would score a run later in the inning to give the Mets a 2-0 lead which they would win to. Reynolds was sent down to the 51s to make room for Wilmer Flores who came of the disabled list. Reynolds during his first big league stint appeared in eight games with a .100 batting average with one hit, one run scored, three strikeouts and one walk.

File:MattReynoldsDebutAtBat.jpg

Reynolds taking his first MLB at-bat

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)