Franmil Reyes contacted by Vladimir Guerrero Sr., David Ortiz amidst slump

Two Hall-of-Famers had advice for Guardians designated hitter Franmil Reyes during a dismal 20-game slump to start the season.

Vladimir Guerrero and David Ortiz shared some of their wisdom, both directly and indirectly, with Reyes during what has been the worst slump of his career.

Reyes, who began the season as the Guardians' cleanup hitter but has since been moved down in the order, hit .157 with a .195 on-base percentage. He had three times as many strikeouts (39) as hits (13) going into Thursday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

He leads the league in two categories: strikeouts and grounded-into-double-plays (six).

For a hitter who slugged 30 home runs in only 115 games in 2021 and has progressively improved since coming to Cleveland from the San Diego Padres, it has been a brutal stretch.

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Reyes admitted on Wednesday night that plenty of frustration has accompanied the slow start to the 2022 season.

"A lot, honestly," Reyes said after the Guardians split a doubleheader with the Padres, a day in which he went 2-for-4, finally breaking through a bit. "It's been sometimes where I feel very upset because I want to do something big for the team. There's a lot of big situations where the team is waiting for something [from me]."

It would be difficult to find a more upbeat, smiling presence in any clubhouse than Reyes. He has tried to maintain that, but not coming through for the lineup like he has in the past has weighed on him.

"At the end of the day, I forget about that, try to come back with a better mentality the next day, but those things kept happening and happening," Reyes said. "It was frustrating. I had a lot of support with my family, the coaches, Victor [Rodriguez], Chris [Valaika], [Justin Toole], always in the cage [telling me], 'Don't forget who you are, remember you have done a lot of damage before and you'll get back to it.'"

Reyes' two-hit day was a step in the right direction, and it was followed by a three-hit game, all singles, Thursday night.

The Guardians know they need Reyes to be productive and to complement Jose Ramirez, Josh Naylor, Owen Miller and Steven Kwan, who have helped to lift the lineup. The Guardians' hitting instructors have worked with Reyes on trying to be more selective at the plate. They also had him choke up a bit on Wednesday.

"I'm feeling way better at the plate, staying more back on the ball, taking very good pitches," Reyes said. "Instead of swinging at everything, taking it one pitch [at a time] and try to do simple stuff, not try to do too much. First at-bat, I was feeling the same thing I was feeling before and I talked to my hitting coach and we talked about choking up a little bit more and trying to drive the ball to the other way, taking my single."

Reyes also took to heart what he heard from Guerrero, who was inducted into the Hall-of-Fame in 2018, and Ortiz, who will be inducted this summer. The messages weren't as focused on mechanics as they were on the mental side, as a conversation from power hitter to power hitter.

"I received a call from Vladimir Guerrero. And I didn't talk directly to David Ortiz, but he was talking to Victor, and he doesn't say anything mechanically, he wanted to talk to me to just remind me who I am, what I've done," Reyes said. "But yeah, people like Ortiz, obviously Vladdy Guerrero — not junior, senior — the coaches here, that's who I let talk to me because they know me, they know the things I do to get better."

The Guardians are hoping the past two games will provide a jump-start for Reyes.

He said Wednesday night, he wants to keep things simple, and he knows the doubles and home runs will come. Once they do, a vital part of the middle of the Guardians' lineup will effectively return.

Perhaps a few times on base and a few phone calls from some of the best hitters in modern baseball history will do the trick.

"Really happy for him just to get him to on base and be in the middle of what we're doing," manager Terry Francona said. "I know that feels good for him because we do need to get him going." 

Bobby Bradley clears waivers, Logan Allen claimed by Orioles

First baseman Bobby Bradley and left-handed pitcher Logan Allen were both designated for assignment to reduce the Guardians roster from 28 to 26 players ahead of the league deadline.

Bradley struggled to begin the season (nine strikeouts in 17 at-bats) and has been passed over for at-bats at first base by Owen Miller and Josh Naylor. Allen posted a 4.50 ERA but was the odd man out on the pitching side.

One of the two will be staying within the organization. Bradley cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Columbus. Allen was claimed by the Baltimore Orioles. Both players were out of minor league options and had to go through the waiver process.

Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Guardians at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/cleveland-guardians. Follow him on Twitter at @ByRyanLewis.