Diamondbacks’ Reynolds makes run at own ‘K’ record

PHOENIX (AP)—One whiff at a time, Mark Reynolds(notes) is closing in on his own single-season strikeout record.

Please don’t remind him. The normally good-natured Reynolds turns chilly when the subject arises.

“I don’t care,” Reynolds said. “I haven’t talked about it all year. I don’t even know now many strikeouts I have.”

Reynolds has 200 after striking out four times on Wednesday, leaving him only a few swings and misses shy of the record he set last season (204).

It’s understandable that the 26-year-old Reynolds is touchy about the question. He’d rather be known for his power—his 42 homers are second to Albert Pujols(notes) in the majors—than be hailed as King of the Ks.

At a glance, Reynolds’ strikeout and homer numbers paint a comical picture of a batter with his shirt buttons popping and helmet spinning, and the ball either in the catcher’s mitt or the left field seats.

But while Reynolds rarely gets cheated on a cut, his other statistics tell a different story.

Reynolds’ batting average, walks, on-base percentage and slugging percentage are all up over last year, his first full season in the majors. Reynolds also has 23 stolen bases.

“He’s not an all-or-nothing guy,” Arizona manager A.J. Hinch said. “It looks like that way sometimes; he’ll have nights that it’s like that. But over the course of his complete work, his complete season, he’s been very productive in times where he’s not hitting a home run and he’s not striking out.”

A few hours after Hinch made that comment, Reynolds backed up his manager’s words by drawing a bases-loaded walk to force in the winning run in a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sept. 9.

Facing Ramon Troncoso(notes), Reynolds worked the count to 3-2, fouling off a couple of pitches with two strikes, and then laid off a fastball that was just off the outside corner.

“I think he’s got a plan when he goes up there,” Dodgers manager Joe Torre said.

Most of the time, the plan is to swing hard.

After hitting 28 homers a year ago, Reynolds has 42 this season, and most aren’t cheap.

On July 28, his shot off Phillies reliever Brad Lidge(notes) carried an estimated 481 feet into a restaurant in the left field upper deck, one of the longest homers in Chase Field’s 12-year history.

“He’s unique,” Torre said. “He’s got (42) home runs, so I think whatever you have to pay for that strikeout-wise is something you take because when he gets up there, he’s a threat. I mean, he may have some holes, but you still have to find the holes. If you miss your spot, it’s not going to be a single.”

Reynolds quickly points to his other numbers whenever someone asks about his strikeout total.

“You know, if I was hitting a buck-fifty and driving in 20 runs and striking out 200 times—but I’m being productive,” Reynolds said. “So whatever.”

Hinch said he can live with strikeouts as long as Reynolds stays within the strike zone. Hinch noted that Reynolds made the jump from Double-A to the majors two years ago, and even though he had immediate success, he’s still learning.

“He’s not a complete hitter all the time,” Hinch said. “But he’s more complete than he was last year, and that’s continuing to advance and continuing to develop.”

That’s also true in the field, where Reynolds had 35 errors a year ago. He was so shaky that Chase Field pundits invented the “Reynolds hat trick”—a homer, strikeout and error in the same game.

This season, Reynolds has 23 errors, and his diving, athletic plays have become a staple of television highlight shows.

But when most people think of Reynolds, they think of his majestic homers and his prodigious strikeout totals. Hinch, who took over as manager this season, said he sensed that Reynolds struggled with the attention surrounding the record a year ago.

“The strikeout record was the cloud over him for so long,” Hinch said. “He finally broke it, and that almost relieved him more than anything, and has allowed him to settle into the type of hitter that he is.”

Reynolds’ strikeout numbers are enormous. But when it comes to leading his league in whiffs, Reynolds is in great, not good, company.

The list of single-season strikeout leaders includes Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson, Mike Schmidt, Mickey Mantle, Hack Wilson, Larry Doby, Ralph Kiner and Willie Stargell—Hall of Famers all.

Jackson is the all-time strikeout leader with 2,597 strikeouts. Jackson amassed that number in 11,416 plate appearances—an average of one ‘K’ per 4.40 trips to the plate.

Reynolds has 533 strikeouts in 1,627 plate appearances—a 3.05 K-to-plate appearance ratio. If Reynolds keeps fanning at that rate, he has a shot at Jackson’s record.

Reynolds isn’t interested in his place in strikeout history. But he acknowledged that it bothered him last year when he had to read about becoming the all-time single-season leader, and that’s why he’s trying to avoid the subject this time.

“I started pressing, trying not to strike out, and that’s when you do that kind of stuff—meaning strike out,” Reynolds said. “There was a lot made of it last year. This year, nothing has been made of it because I don’t want to talk about it. I’m going to keep not talking about it and not worrying about it.”