Draft and minor leagues , batting for the
South Bend Silver Hawks, the
Class A affiliate of the
Arizona Diamondbacks, in 2005. The
Arizona Diamondbacks selected Reynolds in the 16th round (476th overall) of the
2004 Major League Baseball draft. During the 2004 season, he played 64 games with the
Yakima Bears of the
Class A-Short Season Northwest League and four games each with the
South Bend Silver Hawks of the
Class A Midwest League and the
Lancaster JetHawks of the
Class A-Advanced California League, with an overall
batting average for the season of .253 with 12 home runs and 42
runs batted in (RBIs). Reynolds spent the 2005 season with South Bend, again hitting .253, with 19 home runs and 76 RBIs. Reynolds made an instant impact with the Diamondbacks, driving in 14 runs in his first 15 MLB games. Reynolds ended the season third among National League rookies in strikeouts (129), fourth in runs (62), tied for fourth in triples (4), and tied for sixth in home runs (17). He also drove in 62 runs and had a .279 batting average. On October 3, 2007, when Arizona faced the
Chicago Cubs in the first game of the
2007 National League Division Series, Reynolds' seventh-inning home run off of Cubs reliever
Carlos Mármol led the Diamondbacks to a 3–1 victory and a three-game sweep of the division series. Reynolds also hit a home run in Game 3 of the
2007 National League Championship Series (NLCS). The Diamondbacks lost the league championship series to the Rockies in four games.
2008 season On September 25, Reynolds set a major league record by striking out for the 200th time in one season when he failed to check his swing against
St. Louis Cardinals pitcher
Joel Piñeiro. He broke the record of 199 set in 2007 by
Philadelphia Phillies first baseman
Ryan Howard. Reynolds ultimately finished the season striking out 204 times. He also led the majors in strikeout percentage, with 33.3%. Reynolds made the most errors (34) and had the lowest
fielding percentage (.904) of all major league third basemen. He did have a good offensive year, leading the team in home runs (28) and RBIs (97) to go along with 11 stolen bases and 87 runs scored. His batting average saw a significant dip from his rookie campaign, however, ending with a .239 clip.
2009 season In
2009. Reynolds was named one of the five finalists for the National League Final Vote for the
All-Star Game. He finished third behind
Shane Victorino and
Pablo Sandoval. On July 28, Reynolds hit a two-run home run off of
Philadelphia Phillies closer
Brad Lidge landing at 481 feet, making it the longest home run of the 2009 season, and the second-longest home run in the history of
Chase Field. He quickly became recognized for hitting towering home runs (25 of his 44 home runs being over 400 feet), averaging his home runs at 430 feet (longest in baseball). In the Diamondbacks' four-game series against the Mets on July 29 – August 3, Reynolds managed to hit the longest home run in the short history of
Citi Field, at 461 feet, as well as capped off the series finale with home runs in consecutive innings (first and second). His four home runs at Citi Field rank second all-time in home runs hit at the park by a visiting player. On August 10, 2009, Reynolds was named the NL Player of the Week for the week ending August 9, beating out teammate
Ryan Roberts (who finished second) in voting for the honor. Reynolds finished the week hitting .448 with 6 home runs, 32 total bases, 10 RBIs, 1 stolen base, a .515
on-base percentage, and a
slugging percentage of 1.103. This was Reynolds's second NL Player of the Week award (the other being earlier this season for the week ending June 14). As tradition with the Player of the Week award, Reynolds received two wrist watches (one for each week), one of which he gave to his father, and the other of which he gave to his grandfather. Reynolds played at first base for 26 games, where he had a .974 fielding percentage, the second-highest in the league of players with 125 or more innings at first base, and an 8.21 range factor, the best in the league. Reynolds helped improve his defensive skills by working with former Diamondbacks third baseman
Matt Williams, during spring training; work that has raised his fielding percentage by over 50 points from the previous season. He has also made headlines for several notable catches including July 21 in Colorado, July 24 in Arizona, and August 1 in New York. He shattered his own 1-year-old major league record for strikeouts in a season in 2009 with 223. He also hit .260 (batting average), hit 44 home runs, had 102 RBIs, and scored 98 runs, along with 24 stolen bases. He also led the National League in
power-speed number (31.1). He led the major leagues in the
Three True Outcomes (the total of the three main outcomes not involving defense) with 343.
2010 season After signing a three-year, $14.5 million contract extension on March 18, 2010, Reynolds began the season with two home runs in the first four games of the season. On May 20, Reynolds hit his 100th career home run off of the Giants'
Tim Lincecum. Though he finished the season with 32 home runs, the sixth-highest total in the National League, along with 85 RBIs and a career-high 83 walks in 145 games, Reynolds again led the league in strikeouts with 211 and, having reached the mark three times, remained the only player in major league history to have at least 200 strikeouts in a season. Most notably, his .198 batting average established him as the first full-time position player in Major League history to finish the season with a lower batting average (x 1000) than strikeout total.
Baltimore Orioles (2011–2012) Reynolds and a player to be named later (
John Hester on April 30, 2011) were traded to the
Baltimore Orioles for
David Hernandez and
Kam Mickolio on December 6, 2010. From the Diamondbacks' standpoint, the transaction, which was executed by new
general manager Kevin Towers, was to improve the
bullpen and reduce the record-breaking strikeout total by the team's batters (1,529 in
2010). The Orioles, on the other hand, needed a starting third baseman and a power hitter.
2011 season In 2011, Reynolds led all major leaguers in errors, with 31, as his .897 fielding percentage was the lowest of all major league third basemen, and led the American League in strikeouts, with 196. He batted .221, and was fourth in the league in home runs, with 37.
2012 season Reynolds was homerless until May 4 when he hit a home run against the
Boston Red Sox. On the next day, May 5, he hit a three-run home run, his second of 2012. On May 29, he became the fastest position player to reach 1,000 strikeouts in major-league history, having done so in only 747 career games. Reynolds started off the 2012 season at third base, but was moved over to play first base, with first baseman
Chris Davis moving to third, early in the season. He excelled at first base, playing in 108 games there in 2012 and committing only five errors. He had a fielding percentage of .995, which was tied for fourth-best among first basemen in the major leagues. On August 17, during a game between the Orioles and the
Detroit Tigers, third baseman
Manny Machado fielded a ground ball off the bat of
Jhonny Peralta. Machado threw off line to Reynolds, who had to lay all the way out to catch the ball, and was unable to keep his foot on the bag long enough to record the out. Peralta and Tigers manager
Jim Leyland argued to first base umpire
Jeff Kellogg, who conferred with home plate umpire
Tim Timmons. Kellogg's call was reversed, giving Peralta first base. Reynolds angrily threw his glove to the ground, causing him to be ejected by second base umpire
Vic Carapazza. Orioles manager
Buck Showalter angrily argued that Reynolds could not be ejected for throwing his glove, but he too was tossed, by third base umpire
Marty Foster. Reynolds initially walked back onto the field, as if the umpires reversed the ejection call, only to return to the dugout moments later. On September 6, Reynolds hit two home runs against the
New York Yankees in a 10–6 Orioles win. It was only the second time since 1918 that a player had three multi-homer games against the Yankees in a single season, and it was Reynolds′ eighth home run in six games. In 2012, Reynolds batted .221 for the second straight year, with 23 home runs and 69 RBIs.
Cleveland Indians (2013) On December 9, 2012, Reynolds agreed to a one-year contract with the
Cleveland Indians. On April 13, in a game against the
Chicago White Sox, he hit his second career grand slam off of
Chris Sale. He had eight home runs with a batting average of .301 in the month of April. However, he batted only .187 from May on. The Indians
designated Reynolds for assignment on August 8. When he was designated for assignment, he was leading the team with 15 home runs In his first at-bat as a member of the Yankees, he hit a home run against the
Boston Red Sox. On August 28, Reynolds started at second base for the first time in his career while
Robinson Canó and
Eduardo Núñez were stricken with injuries. He batted .236 in 36 games with the Yankees, hitting six home runs and driving in 19 runs. On March 25, the Brewers announced that Reynolds had made the
Opening Day roster. He played in 130 games for the Brewers, hitting 22 home runs and driving in 45 runs, but posted only a .196 batting average for the season. After five consecutive seasons with at least 21 home runs but batting averages that hovered between .196 and .221, he agreed to take a role as
bench player to back up
Matt Adams at first base and
Matt Carpenter at third base. Reynolds hit his fourth career grand slam on May 4 against the
Cubs, aiding the Cardinals to a 10–9 win. The next game, Reynolds's pinch-hit double drove in the go-ahead runs as the Cardinals defeated the Cubs, 7–4. He drove in the go-ahead run with a bases-loaded infield single on June 23 against the
Miami Marlins in a 4–3 win. As a member of the Cardinals, Reynolds' first multiple-home-run game came against the
Pittsburgh Pirates in a 6−5
extra-inning loss on July 12. It was his 22nd career multi-home-run game. He played in 140 games for the Cardinals, batting .230, with 13 home runs and 48 RBIs. He appeared in 118 games in the 2016 season, and hit .282./356/.450 with 14 home runs and 53 RBIs in 393 at bats. He hit the third-longest home run in MLB in 2016, at 484 feet. Reynolds signed a minor league contract with the Rockies on February 1, 2017. The contract included an invitation to spring training. Due to an injury to
Ian Desmond, Reynolds became the Rockies' Opening Day first baseman for
2017. On April 3, Reynolds went 2-for-3, hitting a two-run home run in the top the second, logging two runs, three RBIs, and a walk on Opening Day against the
Brewers. On May 9, in a 10−4 victory versus the
Cubs, he tied his personal best by homering in his fourth consecutive game, first achieved August 6−9, 2009. In 520 at bats over 148 games with the Rockies in 2017, Reynolds batted .267/.352/.487 with an .839
on-base-plus-slugging percentage, had 97 RBIs, and hit 30 home runs, his eighth season with 20 or more homers, with 175 strikeouts (4th in the league).
Washington Nationals (2018) A free agent after the conclusion of the 2017 season, Reynolds went unsigned until April 12, 2018, when the
Washington Nationals signed him to a minor-league contract. before the Nationals selected his contract on May 12, after they placed starting first baseman
Ryan Zimmerman on the 10-day disabled list with a right
oblique strain. On July 6, Reynolds hit a pinch-hit, walk-off home run against the
Miami Marlins. The next night, Reynolds went 5–5 with 2 home runs, a double, and a career-high, franchise record-tying 10 RBI in an 18–4 win over the Marlins. It was the most RBI in a game by any player in MLB since
Scooter Gennett’s 10 RBIs for the
Cincinnati Reds during his 4 home run performance on June 6, 2017, and it tied the franchise record set by teammate
Anthony Rendon in 2017. On July 9, he was named the
National League Player of the Week after
slashing .625/.684/1.313 with 12 RBI and 3 home runs in seven games. For the 2018 season, he batted .248/.328/.476 with 13 home runs and 40 RBI in 206 at bats.
Colorado Rockies (2019) On January 30, 2019, Reynolds signed another minor league contract with the Rockies with an invitation to spring training. If added to the Rockies' 40-man roster, Reynolds will receive a one-year contract for $1 million plus up to an additional $1 million in performance bonuses. Reynolds said he had interest from other teams but wanted to play with a contender, and expects to make spot starts or be a pinch-hitter off the bench. He was released on July 26, 2019. In 2019 he batted .170/.290/.311 with four home runs in 135 at bats. Reynolds announced his retirement on April 9, 2020. ==See also==