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Closing Time: Mark Reynolds, summer rental

Closing Time: Mark Reynolds, summer rental

Ten years into the Mark Reynolds experience, we should have a good idea of what he is — and what he is not. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a fantasy story worth kicking around here.

Reynolds has seen more of the USA than Rand McNally. He’s cashed a check from seven teams over his career, and only two of those stops were more than one season. It’s the takeaway from Everybody Wants Some — here for a good time, not for a long time.

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When it comes to Coors Field, everybody certainly wants some (you want some, too). Reynolds has been useful in his partial role this year, a .290/.357/.455 slash with seven homers in 224 at-bats. And things get especially interesting if you have the flexibility to take the center cut of his production, to use Reynolds at his best.

The first thing we look at with any Colorado hitter is the home/road splits. Reynolds hasn’t been a full pumpkin on the road (.763 OPS), but he’s certainly getting the best of it at home: .314/.391/.480. He had a homer in Thursday’s loss to Arizona, taking a Zack Greinke pitch just over the right-field wall.

Reynolds has been platoon-neutral for his career, though that hasn’t followed in 2016. He’s slugging .523 against righties this year, just .315 the other way.

The next six games should be Reynolds-friendly, as Colorado has six home games and four of them come against right-handed pitching. Reynolds has never been a plus fielder, but he’s a heavy qualifier in our game: you can slot him at first, third, or the outfield. He’s ready for your call in 87 percent of Yahoo leagues.

Brad Ziegler picked up the victory in Arizona’s win, though it came after a blown save. It’s the first red ink from Ziegler in a while; he had 43 straight conversions before Thursday’s hiccup. Raise a glass for the seventh-longest save streak in MLB history.

It doesn’t seem right that Ziggy’s run ended as it did. The Snakes summoned him in the eighth inning with a perilous situation: one run lead, one out, runners on first and third, meat of the order up. The Rockies tied the score on Ziegler, but he did well to limit the damage to one run.

To be fair, Ziegler has been living right most of the year. His 2.51 ERA is the beneficiary of some good fortune (zero homers allowed, plus an uptick in walks). SIERA suggests a 3.63 mark, while the FIP brothers push over three. Ziegler’s game is always going to be heavy on ground balls — we’ll always welcome that — but he also needs to live through contact. Interestingly, he’s allowing the most hard contact of his career, and the highest BABIP.

I’m fine with Ziegler as a fantasy closer because the Snakes aren’t looking to replace him. It’s going to take an extended slump for him to lose the gig. And, heck, it’s fun to see different styles succeed. Not everyone has to be a fire-breathing, fastball-chucking, beard-growing behemoth in the ninth. If Ziegler kills them softly in the ninth, what’s the harm in that?

Didi stepping up (Rich Schultz/Getty)
Didi stepping up (Rich Schultz/Getty)

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I’m pretty sure we haven’t talked Didi Gregorius all year, so let’s break the seal and have a brief little chat. I’m even willing to throw both of his names into custom dictionary.

Gregorius is a field-first player for the Yanks, in the lineup for his glove at shortstop (a marked improvement over the guy he replaced, who’s name escapes me). But he’s also turned into a passable hitter. Gregorius is hitting a career-best .286, and he’s on pace for 14 homers, 73 RBIs and seven steals. Solid improvement in an age-26 season.

Gregorius doesn’t walk a lot, but he also puts his bat on the ball — his strikeout rate is the sixth-lowest among regular players. He’s also having a ball at Yankee Stadium this year, posting a .304/.344/.504 slash there. Sounds like someone who should be owned in more than 18 percent of Yahoo leagues.

• The Athletics might not be doing the fantasy-friendly thing, but cheers to their bullpen usage. Oakland summoned Ryan Madson for the eighth inning on Thursday — the right-handed meat of the Anaheim lineup — then let Sean Doolittle handle the easier ninth, en route to a save. Doolittle actually lost his way a bit, allowing a homer and two runs, but all’s well that ends well. Madson went 1-2-3 in his stint, with two strikeouts.

• I didn’t get in on the Willson Contreras madness; he went quickly in all of my pools, and in the two-catcher formats, I wasn’t altogether stuck at the position. But Contreras might wind up playing more than I initially expected. The Cubs are currently giving him some run at first base while Anthony Rizzo heals up, and Joe Maddon is also willing to consider Contreras for occasional outfield play.

Mind you, everyone remembers what happened when Kyle Schwarber — clearly not an outfielder — was asked to man left field. But maybe Contreras can sneak on the field about half of the time. He’s off to a 5-for-13 start for the Cubs, with a couple of homers. And his Triple-A audition speaks for itself.