DETROIT -- At some point between second and third base,
\n\n【T】【i】【g】【e】【r】【s】 【w】【i】【n】【!】 pic.twitter.com/HRi8dJPWNO
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) September 16, 2019
The way Reyes has hit for the past couple months, though, they might already have an impact hitter and table-setter here. Next year will tell if the former Rule 5 Draft pick can take the next step in his game, but considering how far he has come since last year, it’s difficult to rule him out.\n\n“He’s seizing the opportunity to play every day,” first baseman
Reyes’ hitting tear goes well beyond that. He’s batting .340 (53-for-156) in 36 games since Aug. 5, including 11 doubles, 16 runs scored and 15 RBIs. He’s hitting .303 for the season, a notion that was inconceivable when he was batting .221 six weeks ago, or when he batted .222 last season.\n\n“He’s matured,” manager Ron Gardenhire said before the game. “Last year, I didn’t know honestly, with him being a Rule 5 \\[Draft pick\\] and staying in the big leagues all year, how much that would hurt him coming into this year. He came into Spring Training a lot bigger, a lot stronger, worked really hard during the winter, then went down and tore it up in Triple-A. And here he is, and he’s a new person, the whole package.\n\n“He’s grown an awful lot, and he’s putting it all out there on the field. Still doesn’t take a lot of walks or anything like that like a leadoff hitter, but he’s getting so many stinkin’ hits and he fouls off so many pitches. He’s doing fine.”
One major difference, as noted by Statcast, has been his ability to catch up with fastballs. He hit just .221 (20-for-113) with a .283 slugging percentages off heaters last season. Those rates are up to .352 (34-for-122) and .443 this year. His contact rate on pitches in the strike zone is up from 79.4 percent last year to 84.6 percent this season, and his line-drive rate has risen from 28 to 32 percent.\n\n“I’m working very hard on that. I’m working to swing at pitches in the strike zone,” Reyes said through translator Carlos Guillen. “I’ve always been aggressive at the plate.”\n\nThough Reyes has become Detroit’s primary center fielder down the stretch with
\n\nOMG HE DID IT.https://t.co/QlAg4tk4uS https://t.co/apN1SzvASl
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) September 15, 2019
“The man is a man of his word,” Reyes said.\n\nReyes’ performance Monday helped Tigers starter [Tyler Alexander](https://www.mlb.com/player/tyler-alexander-641302) (1-3) earn his first Major League victory in his 11th big league appearance and first start in more than a month. The lefty had been piggybacking starters down the stretch until last week’s doubleheader against the Yankees necessitated an extra starter. He answered with six innings of one-run ball on Tuesday, his lone blemish the Mancini homer in his final inning.
Mancini came up again with the bases loaded in the ninth, but closer