Franmil Reyes

Franmil Federico Reyes
(Franimal)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 5", Weight 240 lb.

• Debut May 14, 2018

• Born July 7, 1995 in Sabana Grande de Palenque, San Cristobal D.R.

BR page

Biographical Information

Outfielder Franmil Reyes signed his first contract with the San Diego Padres in 2012, when he was just 16 years old. In spite of his young age, he played a full 67 games with the DSL Padres that year, hitting .267 with 4 homers and 37 RBIs. In 2013, he hit .315 in 45 games for the AZL Padres, and .205 in 12 games for the Eugene Emeralds of the Northwest League. He moved up to full-season ball in 2014, with the Fort Wayne Tincaps of the Midwest League. There he played 128 games and hit .248/.301/.268, with 24 doubles and 11 homers, numbers that were more impressive than they seemed given he was 3.5 years younger than the average player in the circuit.

In 2015, Franmil was back with Fort Wayne but it was a season of stagnation, as he hit .255/.320/.393 with 8 homers and 62 RBIs in 123 games, not showing the type of improvement that would have been expected from a young player repeating the level. In 2016, he was moved up to the Lake Elsinore Storm of the California League and did show some progression, with a line of .278/.340/.452 in 130 games, with 32 doubles, 16 homers and 83 RBIs. He had begun to fill out his large frame by then and was showing all the signs of developing into a feared power hitter. In 2017, he did that with the San Antonio Missions of the AA Texas League. In 135 games, he hit .258/.322/.464 with 27 doubles and 25 homers. He also scored 79 runs and drove in 102. In 2018 he continued his steady progression up the organizational ladder by heading to the AAA El Paso Chihuahuas. The plan may have been to give him a full season at that level as well, but his scorching bat changed these, as after 35 games, he was hitting .346 with 14 homers and 37 RBIs. On May 14th, he was called up to San Diego to make his big league debut. The 14 homers were leading all minor leagues at that point. He made his debut that day, starting in right field and going 0 for 4 against the Colorado Rockies. he became one of the few positive stories on the Padres that season, as he slowly took over as the starter in right field and showed some solid batting skills. On September 3rd, he had the first multi-homer game of his career and drove in 4 runs to lead San Diego to a 6-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. That gave him 15 long balls on the year, in just 180 at-bats. he finished his rookie season at .280 with 16 homers and 31 RBIs in 87 games. His OPS+ was an excellent 131.

The Padres were much improved in 2019, with the signing of free agent Manny Machado to play 3B and the addition of top rookies like SS Fernando Tatis Jr. and P Chris Paddack. Reyes was the regular rightfielder for the first four months of the season, playing 99 games and hitting .255 with 27 homers and 46 RBIs. While his OPS+ was again very good, at 121, the Padres were concerned about his low RBI total in spite of copious long balls and his relatively high strikeout numbers, hovering just below one per game. On July 30th, he was traded to the Cleveland Indians, alongside P Logan Allen and prospect Victor Nova, in return for top OF prospect Taylor Trammell, who was obtained from the Cincinnati Reds, who landed P Trevor Bauer in the blockbuster three-team deal. His production went down slightly in his 51 games for Cleveland, with a .237 average, 10 homers and an OPS+ of 96, but he also drove in 35 runs. Overall, his numbers were pretty good, with 37 homers, 69 runs and 81 RBIs in 150 games, with an OPS+ of 112. In 2020, the season was cut to just 60 games by the Coronavirus pandemic. He appeared in all but one of those games and had a solid year, hitting .275 with 10 doubles and 9 homers, driving in 39 runs and putting up an OPS+ of 113. He was second on the Indians in both homers and RBIs, trailing only MVP candidate Jose Ramirez in both categories. In the postseason, he went 0 for 7 with a pair of runs on two walks as the Indians were defeated by the New York Yankees in the Wild Card Series.

He had a very good season with the Indians in 2021, batting .254 in 115 games with 30 homers and 85 RBIs as their primary DH. His OPS+ was a very good 128. Big things were expected from him again as Cleveland played its first season under the "Guardians" moniker in 2022, but he could never get his bat going. In 70 games, he hit .213, with only 9 doubles and 9 homers, driving in 28 runs, his OPS+ tumbling to 72. Counted on to be a big power bat in the middle of the line-up, he failed completely and on August 6th, in a bit of an unexpected move, the Guardians decided to change tacks, having him designated for assignment in the hope of being able to send him down to AAA for him to work on regaining his swing. They had apparently tried to move him at the trading deadline a few days earlier, but had found no takers.

Notable Achievements

• 20-Home Run Seasons: 2 (2019 & 2021)
• 30-Home Run Seasons: 2 (2019 & 2021)

Further Reading

• Mandy Bell: "Guardians DFA Reyes amid tough '22 season", mlb.com, August 6, 2022. [1]

Related Sites

• Franmil Reyes on mlb.com
• BR Minors page