Buddy Reed, Former 3-Sport Athlete Hopeful to Make Padres One Day
Padres’ ownership has had visions of Buddy Reed making the team since the day he was first signed. However, his first two seasons in pro ball have shown how undeveloped he is as a professional player.
Fort Wayne hitting coach, Doug Banks, has noted that Reed has lots of work cut out for him if he wants to emerge as a consistent plate presence. Reed suffered at times in Tri-City and Fort Wayne because he was unable to stay in his hitting zone throughout at bats and find the right pitches to hit. Swinging at bad pitches out of his zone put him down early on in the count and led to rugged at bats. If Buddy Reed can change his approach and mechanics of his swing, there will be lots to look forward to in his professional career.
Buddy Reed stayed busy the past three months fine-tuning his skills for the next season and working on his game.
A winter full of scorching the ball and hitting home runs has given fans hope that Buddy Reed will develop enough to become an everyday outfielder in the MLB. Some baseball people feel that he is destined for, and approaching, a breakout season.
He participated in the Australian Baseball league, which began in November and ended in mid-January. Reed played in his last ABL game on Sunday January 14th before heading back to the States to prepare for spring training. His finished his ABL stint on a tear, hitting .373 (19-for-51) with nine home runs across his final 10 games. Reed led off for the Cavalry and was dominant offensively, hitting for extra base hits and streaking around the bases for Cavalry runs. Reed ended his Winter League extravaganza hitting .326 with 10 home runs and 21 RBI across 31 games.
International scouts were dazzled by his tremendous power from the right side of the plate and electric speed around the base paths. These extra at bats and experience for Buddy should pay off down the road this season in Fort Wayne.
If Buddy Reed plays for the Padres one day, he should bring far more than his athleticism and baseball talents to the Padres.
Buddy Reed got a solid taste of playing in center field at the spacious outfield of Petco Park when he participated in the Padres 2016 Futures Game. After playing in the game, Reed spoke very positively of his experience playing alongside Padres prospects Jorge Oña and Jeisson Rosario, “Petco is huge, but it was a blast and I’m honored to be a part of the Padres’ organization. The competition and talent around here must make you excited to be here in San Diego”. His thoughts are a positive sign as he strives to join the ranks of other currently top-ranked Padres’ prospects.
Buddy Reed learned a great deal from playing three sports while growing up. Buddy centralized on building strong relationships with his teammates, managers, and coaches. This notion revolves around being a team player who embraces being a part of a something that’s more than himself.
Reed’s mindset makes him adept at continuing to progress as a player in the Padres’ minor league system. Along with being known as a team player, Reed takes time to connect with fans on and off the field. That’s a major part of the game that he embraces. “I try to put myself out there to interact with the fans,” said Reed.
The 22-year-old would be a very flashy addition and exciting player to watch in the spacious outfield of Petco Park. Buddy was a fan favorite at Florida and it’s within possibility that he ends up the same in San Diego with the Padres.
Reed’s age is not an issue and he likely won’t be on the brink for a call-up to the Padres until 2020 or 2021 when he’s 24 years old, at the earliest. Buddy Reed is one of the top outfield prospects in the Padres’ minor league system along with Edward Olivares, Jorge Oña, Michael Gettys, and Franmil Reyes. The system has a handful of star-caliber outfielders with the opportunity to play for the Padres one day.
The former ice hockey and soccer player is just a professional baseball player now with the sense that he deserves to be here.
Buddy Reed is a likely candidate for a breakout season, and for the future of the San Diego Padres, that may be a good thing. Reed’s versatility, speed, and hard work-ethic make him a promising player with a future in San Diego.
A native of Newport Beach, California, Brett has a passion for San Diego sports and America’s Finest City. He graduated from Drew University in Madison, NJ in 2020 where he majored in Computer Science and minored in Business Studies. Brett is patiently waiting on the Padres first World Series championship and will be bringing you insight and knowledge on the Padres, Aztecs and Toreros.
I like him a lot, but Buddy Reed has some real problems with the bat. I’m hoping his performance in Australia is a sign of things to come, but it probably says more about the quality of that league’s pitching.