Matt Reynolds, one of five members of the 2016 Barnstormers to advance to Major League Baseball following his time in Lancaster, will be returning to Clipper Magazine Stadium in 2018, it was announced today by manager Ross Peeples.
He will be joined on the ball club by left-handed batting outfielder Kyle Waldrop, who has had two short stints with the Cincinnati Reds.
The signings bring the number of players on the Barnstormers roster this spring to 24.
Reynolds, 33, appeared in 26 games for the Barnstormers at the outset of the 2016 season, posting a 1-0 record and 1.64 ERA. He allowed only 13 hits and four walks while striking out 32 batters in just 22 innings of work.
The Giants purchased his contract in June and assigned him to Class AA Richmond. After throwing eight scoreless appearances for the Flying Squirrels, Reynolds was promoted to Class AAA Sacramento. He continued his streak of scoreless work with the RiverCats before receiving a promotion to the Major League team in late July. He appeared in back-to-back games against Washington, also pitching scoreless baseball, then was returned to Class AAA. The lefty was brought back to San Francisco in September, pitching in eight total games in the big leagues that year.
He joined former Lancaster teammates Andrew Albers and Phil Coke, who earlier had made a return to the Majors in 2016. Outfielder Logan Schafer played for Minnesota later in the year, and right-hander Austin Bibens-Dirkx made his Major League debut for Texas last season.
Reynolds pitched for Sacramento last year, going 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA. He was on the disabled list after June 28.
Previous to his time in Lancaster, the Austin Peay product spent part or all of four seasons in the big leagues with Colorado and Arizona. He appeared in 144 games with Colorado between the 2011 and 2012 seasons.
“Reynolds will bring a lot of value to our bullpen,” said Peeples. “He’s a very dependable lefty who just gets outs. His being here before and getting back to the big leagues was a great story, and we’d love to help him do it again.”
Waldrop, 26, entered 16 games with Cincinnati between the 2015 and 2016 seasons. He picked up five hits, including one double in his 23 big league at bats.
The Florida native belted 21 home runs for Class A Bakersfield in 2013 and batted .359 in 65 games upon his return there the following season. Last year, he batted .303 with 10 homers and 68 RBI for Seattle’s Class AA farm team in Little Rock, Arkansas and also appeared in 13 games for Class AAA Tacoma.
He holds a career minor league batting average of .278.
“Waldrop can play first base and the outfield, and he will play a little bit of both for us,” Peeples said. “He will be one of our middle of the lineup guys and will be depended upon to drive in runs.”
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