37.8. A Bright Spot During a Depressing Season

[agrudez]

Two months into the season, looking down the roster, the Phantoms are almost to a man underperforming this year - with a few exceptions. From the pitching staff, steady production from front office favorites Juan Nicto and Ludwig Charles even as their "betters" (Peithner and Tong) have struggled so mightily have been great to see. Neither has outperformed expectations, but neither has underperformed either. In a season filled with the latter, even consistency can find itself being applauded. On the offensive side, Torres continues to assert himself as one of the top young players in the league today and Rutledge has been well outperforming the contract given to him this offseason. Should the team opt to go full firesale, the latter would no doubt be a hot commodity on the trade market with the season he is having thus far. Though, much like the two highlighted pitchers, neither of these batter's performances are terribly surprising for Phantoms management either.

No, the real bright spot, thus far, has been Fernando Reyes. The team's first 1st round pick of the Stever 2.0 era - from a draft class largely lamented for its dearth of talent - Reyes has been an extremely fast riser through the Huntsville farm system, jumping from A last year to AAA and now the majors this year. At 20 years old, not only is he fully developed, but he has actually bumped both OF range and CON since being selected - while flashing a down right deadly vs. RHP split. After posting a 1.069 OPS in 149 AAA ABs, the team simply couldn't hold him down any longer (even though they expressed reservations about his OF defense being ready for prime time experience wise) and he hasn't disappointed thus far, to say the least. In 42 ABs thus far (38 of which came against RHP), Reyes has managed a staggering 1.143 OPS. Obviously this level of play is unsustainable, but in a year that hasn't given fans much to grasp onto in the 'hope' department, Reyes' hot start has certainly been a bright spot - and if he "only" finishes with a .850-.900 OPS at the end of the year, I think fans will find it in their hearts to forgive him.

[RonCo]

Classic Huntsville guy.