Detroit Tigers: Nomar Mazara’s injury opens door for Victor Reyes
By Tyler Kotila
The Detroit Tigers are going to be without outfielder Nomar Mazara who will be missing a couple of weeks with an abdominal strain. Writer for The Athletic, Cody Stavenhagen, tweeted that the Tigers shuffled their roster around, putting Mazara on the 10-day Injured List (IL), recalling Joe Jiménez.
The move comes after Mazara was removed from a recent Detroit Tigers contest. The story of the Tigers outfield has been told by Rule-5 sensation Akil Baddoo. Lately, it has been Baddoo’s world, and we’re all just living in it. However, with Mazara out, there is less of a revolving door in the outfield.
This means that Victor Reyes could very well get a shot to stick as a part of the Tigers outfield in 2021. Currently, it is a mix between Baddoo, JaCoby Jones, Robbie Grossman, and Reyes. Reyes has had a rough start to the 2021 season, and this opens the door to right the ship.
Reyes is also a former Rule-5 Draft pick of the Tigers who has struggled so far during the 2021 season. It has not been the prettiest of stat lines and if Reyes can figure things out, he might be able to garner some more playing time.
The Detroit Tigers are going to be without Nomar Mazara for a couple of weeks, meaning players like Victor Reyes will be called upon more.
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The Tigers outfield is already a crowded situation. With the addition of Grossman, return of Jones, the breakout of Baddoo, signing of Mazara, and return of Reyes, the team’s outfield is pretty full.
Full enough to send Daz Cameron and Derek Hill packing when they cut down the roster.
Reyes was someone who could very well have been slated for a breakout season, however, this has not been the case as he has struggled in 2021 after a decent 2020 season.
He has only played about half of the Tigers 2021 contests, registering 7 games, totaling 22 plate appearances.
In 2021, Reyes has hit .143/.182/.333 which is a far cry from his .277/.315/.391 line from the 2020 season. The switch-hitting outfielder appears that he can be a decent hitter, but the Tigers have not seen that hit-tool at all in 2021.
Reyes needs to make the most of this opportunity. With Mazara dropping out of the mix of outfielders who are in rotation, Reyes can step up. While the stats are pretty bad in 2021, there should be hope that getting him into more games will allow him to get out of the early-season funk.
Logging more at-bats, seeing more pitches, and overall just working to get through the worrisome start should be good for Reyes. Hopefully, he is able to right the ship in the batters’ box and gets back to being a serviceable member of the lineup.
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Without Mazara in the lineup, Reyes is going to get more opportunities, hopefully he can capitalize on them.