Victor Reyes Adjusts Constantly In Batter’s Box

Whenever Double-A Jackson outfielder Victor Reyes looks overpowered at the plate, he doesn’t look that way for long, at least not from what his hitting coach Jason Camilli has seen.

“Maybe he gets his doors blown off for one pitch, a fastball gets on him,” Camilli said, “but he adjusts right after, and on the next pitch, he makes that adjustment and gets himself on time and gives himself a chance. Every time he goes up to the plate I feel very, very confident he’s going to have a good at-bat.”

The 22-year-old Reyes is known for his ability to find the barrel, and in his first exposure to Double-A he got off to a great start by hitting .346/.384/.506 through 20 games in April.

The Diamondbacks acquired the switch-hitting Reyes from the Braves in April 2015 in a swap for the 75th overall pick in that year’s draft, though the deal was linked to the Trevor Cahill salary dump that happened days earlier. Atlanta signed Reyes out of Venezuela in 2011.

Though he hit only one home run in April, Reyes smacked nine extra-base hits, a sign he may be growing into the power that scouts have seen as his biggest weakness.

Camilli said he’s seen Reyes “put a couple charges into balls” and hopes he’ll be a classic case of a hitter whose power develops last.

“Each guys develops at his own pace,” Camilli said. “He’ll eventually know when it’s time jump on (a pitch) and cheat a little bit and put a charge into something. I think that’s something that will progress over time.”

Either way, Reyes could provide big league value with his hit tool. He owns a career .303 average as a pro, runs well and can handle all three outfield spots. A scout for an American League team who saw Reyes in April said he sees him as a fourth outfielder.

“He’s hit pretty much hit every pitch he’s wanted to, whether it’s fastballs or breaking balls,” Camilli said. “He just has a knack for finding holes. It’s really kind of an amazing.”

— Nick Piecoro covers the Diamondbacks for azcentralsports.com