Cubs take swing at needed power boost with Reyes move originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
It’s easy to see why the Cubs were interested in Franmil Reyes after the Guardians designated him for assignment.
“We’re lacking in the power department right now,” Cubs president Jed Hoyer said. “For the whole year, we've done a decent job of getting on base.
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“We've done a really poor job of converting that into runs. Some of that is the ball on the ground and some of that is the lack of power.”
The Cubs entered Monday 19th in MLB in home runs, and Reyes will get an opportunity to help them in that area after they claimed him off waivers Monday.
Maybe he'll even potentially earn a role heading into 2023. But first, Reyes must start getting back to being the guy he was in recent seasons.
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“He's a guy who's shown huge power in the big leagues and had really good years in ’19 and ’21,” Hoyer said. “Obviously he struggled this year, but we felt like it was a good opportunity to take a chance on.
"Carter [Hawkins] knows him from Cleveland and he knows the struggles he's had this year."
Reyes has had a rough 2022 that led to Cleveland optioning him to Triple-A last week before DFA-ing him.
He’s hit just .213/.254/.350 with a 37.1 percent strikeout rate (104 in 280 plate appearances) and 72 OPS+ through 70 games.
It’s a far cry from what Reyes did the last three seasons between the Padres and Guardians. He hit .256/.322/.504 with a 119 OPS+ while hitting 30+ home runs in 2019 and ’21.
For as much as he’s struggled this season, Reyes has shown he has real pop, only turned 27 last month and has two seasons of club control remaining after 2022.
The Cubs are hoping a change of scenery is exactly what he needs, and if not, the addition is a low-risk flyer.
“If we can bring him in here and get a chance to get to know him and see if we can get him back on track," Hoyer said, "we have control for a couple of years.
"It seemed like a good opportunity for us as a waiver claim," Hoyer added.
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