Fulton Reed arrived to Belfast amidst substantial fanfare -- very rarely does a player who's achieved his level of success in America join an EBA franchise before their late 30s. The man who once led the MBBA in homers (with 46, in 2022) was now bringing his big bat to Belfast; would it live up to the hype?Through his first eight games as a Northstar, Fulton Reed has exactly six hits -- and FOUR (no, not a typo) of those were long balls. The other two were doubles. He also drew three walks, one of which was intentional. While he'll be looking to improve his batting average going forward, there's no arguing with the fact that his .667 slugging percentage is exactly what Belfast was looking for when they inked him to a long-term contract.
Adam Dee reflected on Reed's early returns earlier this morning. "Fulton Reed is, without question, the most powerful hitter in Europe. I think he's right up there with anyone America has to offer, to be quite honest with you. He's a franchise player, and he'll be powering Belfast for years to come."
So far, Reed is joined at the top of the team's depth chart by Jon Higson, a hard-throwing outfielder with his own gaudy numbers: .366/.418/.598 is nothing to sneeze at. The Northstars are hoping that two other key acquisitions -- one-time MBBA Golden Bat winner William McIntyre and 3B Tommy Bender -- can improve their own work at the plate to give their stars some support.
Of course, even a talent such as Reed is awfully unlikely to maintain this pace -- finishing the year with 80 home runs is a tall order for anyone, even the bash brother himself. But his batting average will improve - if he can even inch up to the modest hitting numbers he posted back in North America, he'll be a leading candidate for the league's Hitter of the Year when all is said and done.
