Franmil Reyes hasn’t made it easy on the Padres. Or maybe he has made it exceedingly easy.

It is safe to say the big rookie right fielder is the team’s biggest surprise and one of its biggest conundrums.

The 23-year-old Reyes, who wasn’t considered a top prospect and could hardly get on base his first month in the majors, entered Tuesday’s game as the Padres’ season leader in slugging percentage (.516) among those with more than 35 plate appearances and also the leader in batting average (.276) and third in on-base percentage (.332) among those with at least 175 plate appearances.

His 15 home runs rank fourth on the team, but his rate of one homer every 14.5 at-bats is best on the team.


He had just 235 plate appearances, about half as many as needed to qualify among the major league statistical leaders.

But his sample size is large enough to suggest staying power.

Reyes has batted .327/.387/.602 since Aug. 5, all of those numbers either No. 1 or No. 2 on the team in that span among players with more than 35 plate appearances. He has at least one hit in all but two of his past 24 games, and his .384 average in that span (since Aug. 21) leads the majors.

The average and on-base component would have been unfathomable in late June, at the end of Reyes’ first major-league stint, when he hit .228/.260/.457 in 29 games.


In that first stay, he struck out 39 times in 96 plate appearances and walked just four times.

While drastic ascension since his most recent call-up in early August is most marked, the improvement began when he joined the team for a couple weeks in the middle of July.

In his 139 plate appearances since July 11, he has struck out 30 times and walked 14 times. That’s almost halving his strikeout rate and more than doubling his walk rate.

Improving his aptitude, willingness and coachability resulted in better plate discipline and a more manageable swing.


Manager Andy Green has several times talked about Reyes as if he is some sort of baseball Rhodes Scholar. Veteran teammates have matched Reyes’ eagerness to learn from them with an eagerness to teach him.

“It’s his ability to soak in information, the questions he is asking; he’s just so open about everything,” first baseman Eric Hosmer said. “He’s telling you what he’s thinking at the plate, why he swings a certain way, why he didn’t swing. He’s so open and so willing to listen and learn and take some criticism at certain times.

“That’s one of the biggest things you can see. It’s kind of like a hidden talent. Because of his ability to take in information and put it into practice, he’s a winning player.”

That seems like it just might be true


But in addition to Hunter Renfroe having a breakout season, there is a sort of albatross that could be the deciding factor that makes Reyes the odd man out in the Padres outfield.

He’s 6-foot-5 and 275 pounds, and he moves in right field like a lot of it is in his cleats.

“There is a limit to what he can do,” Green said. “… It’s a lot of ground to cover. He’s giving great effort. His routes are good, his technique is not bad at all. It’s just a lot of man out there.”

Reyes has worked before games as much as anyone on footwork, tracking fly balls and running. The improvement defensively is appreciable.


He gets to more balls than in May and June.

However, he remains enough of a liability that he has been part of double switches in all but a handful of games in which the Padres are tied or hold a lead sometime after the fifth or sixth inning.

“The thing about Franmil is he wants to be great,” said outfield coach Skip Schumaker. “He doesn’t want to get double switched. He knows his bat is why he’s here. … He’s losing an at-bat every night. It’s a testament to him how hard he is working, trying to get better each day.”

Said Reyes: “I would love to have more opportunities to do more things — defense and offense. It’s really important because I can find a spot to play, not just put my manager and team thinking, ‘This guy can hit, but he can’t field.’ That’s bad. You’re not a complete player that way.”


The likelihood is Reyes and Renfroe will be part of discussions with other teams as the Padres run a dual track this off-season of attempting to alleviate a 40-man roster crunch and improve their major league team and minor league system.

Reyes’ greatest value could be with an American League team that can use him as a designated hitter. But there is almost no way to predict what will come of all the trade talks the Padres anticipate being party to, and it is conceivable him and Renfroe could be Padres in 2019.

Much like its looming issue at catcher, the team contends that will be OK.

“If the bat works the way his does,” Green said, “you’re going to find a spot on the baseball field more consistently.”


kevin.acee@sduniontribune.com