Reyes has signed with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball.
Reyes had a promising start to his major-league career but crashed and burned the last two seasons, posting a .624 OPS with a 33.6 percent strikeout rate over 137 games. He's still just 28 and will get a chance to get things back on track overseas.
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Franmil Reyes: Reinstated from IL, released
Rotowire
The Nationals reinstated Reyes (undisclosed) from the injured list Friday and released him, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post reports.
Reyes hadn't played in a game with Triple-A Rochester since early July, and he'll now attempt to latch on with his third organization of the season. The 28-year-old is slashing just .217/.317/.392 across 167 plate appearances in Triple-A this season, but there's a decent chance he gets a minor-league contract from another team.
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Nationals' Franmil Reyes: Gets minors deal from Nationals
Rotowire
Reyes signed a minor-league contract with the Nationals on Thursday, Talk Nats reports.
Reyes was released by the Royals a week ago but has quickly latched on in another organization. The 27-year-old batted just .186/.231/.288 with a 36.9 percent strikeout rate during his time in Kansas City but figures to get another shot soon on a rebuilding Nats club.
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Franmil Reyes: Becomes free agent
Rotowire
Reyes elected free agency Thursday.
Reyes was designated for assignment Monday and will now look for another opportunity elsewhere after a disappointing tenure with the Royals. Over 19 games with Kansas City, he batted .186 with two homers, seven RBI and five runs scored while striking out 24 times over 59 at-bats. After a hot start to his major-league career in 2018, Reyes has struggled to find any groove over the last couple seasons.
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Royals' Franmil Reyes: Moved off 40-man roster
Rotowire
Reyes was designated for assignment by the Royals on Monday.
Reyes was optioned to Triple-A Omaha last week and now is off the 40-man roster in order to make room for trade acquisition James McArthur. He batted just .186/.231/.288 with a 36.9 percent strikeout rate during his time with the Royals and, while Reyes is still just 27, his big-league career looks to be at a crossroads.
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Royals' Franmil Reyes: Sent out to Triple-A
Rotowire
The Royals optioned Reyes to Triple-A Omaha prior to Tuesday's 11-7 loss to the Orioles.
Even for a 7-23 Royals squad that ranks near the bottom of the majors in most offensive metrics, Reyes proved to be too much of a liability at the plate to earn regular playing time. Before being demoted Tuesday, Reyes had started in only two of the Royals' previous five games and was sitting on a .186/.231/.288 slash line and a 36.9 percent strikeout rate over 65 plate appearances on the season. With his career continuing to trend downward since he slugged 30 home runs for Cleveland in 2021, Reyes could be in danger of being designated for assignment if the Royals need to open up a spot on the 40-man roster at any point.
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Royals' Franmil Reyes: Heads to bench Wednesday
Rotowire
Reyes is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Diamondbacks.
After being reinstated from the paternity list Monday, Reyes started at designated hitter in both of the first two games of the series in Arizona, going hitless across eight at-bats. He'll bow out of the starting nine for the series finale and will cede DH duties to MJ Melendez.
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Royals' Franmil Reyes: Reinstated from paternity leave
Rotowire
Reyes (personal) has been reinstated from paternity list by the Royals on Monday.
Reyes missed three games while attending to a new addition to his family. Nate Eaton was optioned to Triple-A Omaha in a corresponding move to make room for Reyes on the roster.
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Royals' Franmil Reyes: Heads to bench Monday
Rotowire
Reyes is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Rangers.
Reyes is on the bench for the second time in three games against a right-handed pitcher (Jacob deGrom), but he still appears to be in relatively good standing for a near-everyday role. Though he's supplied a lowly .222/.282/.389 slash line through 39 plate appearances, his .296 woBA is still good for fifth among all hitters in a Royals lineup that contains numerous black holes.
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Royals' Franmil Reyes: Sits against lefty
Rotowire
Reyes is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Rangers.
After striking out in all three of his at-bats in Sunday's 3-1 loss to the Giants, Reyes will step out of the lineup Monday even though the platoon advantage is in his favor. Rather than Reyes, the Royals will go with Matt Duffy as their extra right-handed bat against Rangers southpaw Andrew Heaney.
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Royals' Franmil Reyes: Picks up second homer
Rotowire
Reyes went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Saturday's 6-5 victory over San Francisco.
Reyes connected on a solo homer off Ross Stripling in the seventh inning to make it 5-2 Giants. It's the second homer of the season for Reyes. After struggling mightily in 2022 for the Guardians and Cubs, Reyes has hit just .118 with six strikeouts in his first 20 plate appearances.
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Royals' Franmil Reyes: Not starting Friday
Rotowire
Reyes isn't in Kansas City's lineup for Friday's game with the Giants.
Friday marks the second consecutive game that Reyes will begin on the bench after starting the year 1-for-13 at the plate. The 27-year-old slugger will surely get more opportunities as the Royals' DH, but Friday that job will go to Vinnie Pasquantino. Hunter Dozier will shift to first base, opening up third base for Matt Duffy, who will bat ninth.
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Royals' Franmil Reyes: Gets Thursday off
Rotowire
Reyes is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Blue Jays.
Reyes has started at designated hitter in four of the Royals' first six games, going 1-for-12 with a solo home run. Rather than guaranteeing Reyes an everyday role, the Royals are likely to take a committee approach to the DH spot, though the 27-year-old could end up getting the lion's share of starts if he can trim down his strikeouts and re-emerge as the premium power hitter he was earlier in his career during stops with San Diego and Cleveland.
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Royals' Franmil Reyes: Accounts for lone run
Rotowire
Reyes went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Tuesday's 4-1 loss to the Blue Jays.
The Royals' offense has been poor to begin 2023, and Reyes hasn't been immune from those struggles. His second-inning solo shot was his first hit of the season, and one of just four in Tuesday's game for the home team. The 27-year-old slugged 44 homers over the last two seasons, so he should provide some pop if he can work out of his 1-for-10 slump to start the campaign.
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Royals' Franmil Reyes: Sitting again Monday
Rotowire
Reyes is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Blue Jays, Joel Goldberg of Bally Sports Kansas City reports.
Reyes served as the Royals' designated hitter in the team's first two games of the season, but after going 0-for-6 with two walks against five strikeouts between those contests, he now finds himself on the bench for the second straight game. The Royals haven't settled on a permanent fixture at DH, but manager Matt Quatraro looks as though he may rotate a number of players at that spot in the lineup, including Reyes. Until Reyes can clearly take control of an everyday role, he probably won't profile as a strong option in weekly lineups for managers who are seeking power production.
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Royals' Franmil Reyes: Out of lineup Sunday
Rotowire
Reyes is not in the lineup for Sunday's game versus the Twins.
Reyes served as the designated hitter in the first two games of the season and will take a seat Sunday after he went 0-for-6 with two walks and five strikeouts. MJ Melendez will shift to designated hitter for the series finale while Jackie Bradley receives the start in right field.
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Royals' Franmil Reyes: Starting at DH on Thursday
Rotowire
The Royals selected Reyes' contract from Triple-A Omaha on Thursday.
Not only that, they're starting him at designated hitter and batting him fifth on Opening Day versus the Twins. MJ Melendez is getting the start in right field, with Edward Olivares in left and Nate Eaton on the bench.
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Royals' Franmil Reyes: Likely to make roster
Rotowire
Reyes is likely to make the Opening Day roster for the Royals out of spring training, Anne Rogers of MLB.com notes.
Reyes was brought in on a minor-league contract in February by the Royals after struggling mightily in 2022 with both the Guardians and Cubs. The 27-year-old has hit well in the Cactus League as seen in a 1.112 OPS and three homers over 43 plate appearances with the club. Reyes will likely see reps as a designated hitter if/when he does become a part of the big-league roster to open 2023 with an occasional start or two in the outfield as well.
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Royals' Franmil Reyes: Batting cleanup Friday
Rotowire
Reyes is in the designated hitter spot and batting cleanup for the Royals in Friday's Cactus League debut against the Rangers.
It's a lineup which features many of the team's regulars, so it can't be a bad thing for Reyes' outlook that he's being thrown right into the middle of it. Still, MJ Melendez is likely to see most of the playing time in the DH spot for the Royals this season, so don't necessarily read too much into it. Reyes could also see a little playing time in the outfield as he looks to bounce back from a dreadful 2022 campaign.
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Royals' Franmil Reyes: Inks NRI deal with Kansas City
Rotowire
Reyes signed a minor-league contract Wednesday with the Royals, Anne Rogers and Juan Toribio of MLB.com report.
The deal includes an invitation to the major-league side of spring training, where Reyes will try to carve out an Opening Day roster spot. The 27-year-old popped 30 home runs in 115 games for Cleveland in 2021 before slumping to a .221/.273/.365 batting line with only 14 homers over 118 games between the Guardians and Cubs in 2022. If he does make the squad in Kansas City, it will probably be as a part-time designated hitter and bench bat. He can also handle a bit of corner-outfield work, though most defensive metrics would advise against it.
