Mark

Reynolds

“I’m retired, actually,” Reynolds told Chris Russo of Mad Dog Radio on his radio show. “I guess that’s breaking news on your show. I haven’t really told anybody.” Reynolds played for 13 seasons, and hit 298 homers for the Diamondbacks, Orioles, Indians, Yankees, Brewers, Cardinals, Nationals and Rockies. His best seasons came in Arizona, as he averaged 32 home runs in his five seasons with the D-Backs; including a 44-homer campaign in 2009 that also saw him steal 24 bases in 33 attempts.

Reynolds wasn’t playing a ton and has hit just .170/.290/.311 this season, so the Rockies decided to move on. He will turn 36 in a couple weeks and is just two home runs shy of 300 for his career.

Murphy has been on a roll at the plate lately, but the veteran first baseman will sit out the early game at Coors Field before likely playing the entirety of the nightcap. Mark Reynolds is starting at first base and hitting seventh versus Giants right-hander Jeff Samardzija.

With two runners on and two outs in the 11th, Reynolds caught up with a 96-mph fastball from Sox reliever Ryan Brasier and sent it back up the middle, plating Trevor Story to give the Rockies the lead. The hit was his second of the evening, finishing 2-for-5 in the game. Unlike in some years past, Reynolds has struggled to find traction after winning a job out of spring, and after Tuesday’s heroics he’s still hitting just .195/.319/.403 overall. With plenty of moving parts and Brendan Rodgers raking at Triple-A, it’s worth wondering if the Rockies will make a move at some point, with the 34-year-old being on the receiving end of the bad news.

Murphy is just 3-for-25 so far in May as his season-long slump continues. Mark Reynolds will be at first base against the Padres’ Nick Margevicius.

Reynolds followed Nolan Arenado’s first-inning bomb by drilling one of his own, blasting a 425-foot missile to deep center for his fourth homer of 2019. He was at it again in the second, this time doubling to drive home Trevor Story and Arenado for Colorado’s fourth and fifth runs of the afternoon. The 34-year-old has been his usual free-swinging self this season, batting just .194 with 28 strikeouts in 67 at-bats.

Murphy is off to a sluggish .237/.326/.474 start and will take a seat against left Robbie Ray. Ryan McMahon isn’t playing, either, as the Rockies have Mark Reynolds at first base and Garrett Hampson at second.

Reynolds tied the game at 5-5 in the fifth inning with a two-run shot off of Jeremy Hellickson. It’s the third homer of the season for the 35-year-old, and he now owns seven RBI on the 2019 campaign. There’s still plenty of pop in that bat, but the lack of ability to hit for average makes him just a decent DFS option in the long-term.

It was the only hit of the game for Reynolds, but it did bring the Rockies to within a run at 3-2 in the seventh. The veteran first baseman now has two homers on the year to go along with four RBI. When he’s in the lineup against southpaws, he offers some DFS value. Outside of that, you can probably steer clear, even playing his home games in that hitting utopia we call Coors Field.

It looks as though Reynolds will act as the team’s primary first baseman while Daniel Murphy and Ryan McMahon are both on the mend. He’ll bat fifth against Julio Urias and the Dodgers on Sunday. Garrett Hampson is also in the lineup, batting eighth and starting at second base for the Rockies.