Do you own your Buddy Reed jersey yet?
The A’s outfielder is a longshot to make the club out of spring training this season, but he’d be hard to deny if he keeps making plays at this rate. For the third straight game, Reed on Tuesday delivered a highlight, this time hitting the game-winning home run in a 2-1, seven-inning win over the Milwaukee Brewers.
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Following the game, A’s manager Bob Melvin joked that Reed needs to produce more.
Reed’s solo blast came one day after he hit a two-run homer and threw out a runner, and two days after he made his A’s debut by showing off his rocket arm.
Reed is the only outfield spring training invitee who isn’t on the 40-man roster, so he has some work cut out for him to break camp with Oakland. But the 25-year-old is making a push to be the team’s fourth outfielder amongst a crowded group of candidates.
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He spent 2019 at the Double-A level, slashing .228/.310/.388 with 14 homers, 58 RBIs and 23 stolen bases in 31 attempts. The A’s eventually acquired him as the player to be named later in the 2019 Jurickson Profar deal and he spent time at the A's alternate site in 2020.
“I just want to be a complete player,” Reed said earlier this week. “I want to work my butt off each and every day, learn from the guys that are ahead of me and in the big leagues now. Hopefully when I get my chance I won’t take it lightly. I’m coming out here to win a job.”
Other names in the mix include Rule 5 pick Ka’ai Tom, top prospect Luis Barrera, Seth Brown and Cody Thomas, who was recently acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers with Adam Kolarek.
But if Reed keeps this up, those guys will have no chance and we’ll be talking about his ETA to Cooperstown in no time.