Hallelujah! Someone finally said what needed to be said. Mark Reynolds said what the Diamondbacks players, organization, fans and media all needed to hear. He shook up the state of apathy. He is our lyrical savior.

After suffering another frustrating loss on Friday night Mark Reynolds let loose with a tirade that was two months in the making. He said (via East Valley Tribune):

“This is the major leagues, you can’t go out there and make three errors and expect to win a game. We looked like the Bad News Bears out there. It’s frustrating as (expletive) out there. It’s to the point where stuff’s got to change. You can give all the rah-rah speeches you want and have all the team meetings you want, yell at guys or whatever, but guys got to give a damn. I don’t really see it . . . I know I care, I’m out there busting my tail every night. Physical errors are fine, but guys not doing the right thing, guys not being where they’re supposed to be or guys giving up on (at-bats) is unacceptable at any level”

This is a breath of fresh air to what has been an apathetic season for the D-Backs. Multiple people, including myself, have questioned their effort, desire, courage and leadership. One of the biggest complaints about the 2009 season is that the D-Backs didn’t have a clubhouse leader. Did they just find one? The day after his comments Reynolds stated: “I don’t think if I stand up in front of the whole team and say some stuff, I don’t think anyone would really listen because I’m not a veteran.” To that I would say that no one on this team is a veteran. More importantly I would say that someone needed to say something and you, Mark, finally did. The best leaders are individuals who don’t view themselves as leaders, but step up and say something when it has to be said. These are real leaders. Reynolds may have felt for a while that it wasn’t his place to say something, but it absolutely was. How has this changed public perception of Reynolds?

Mark Reynolds is having a good year in the midst of a terrible team year. His errors and strikeouts are way to high, but his hitting is everything the D-Backs wanted it to be. Gone are the extreme hold/cold streaks Reynolds has always been prone too. He is more consistent and one of the few clutch hitters on the team. I can live with his strike outs and errors because Reynolds is always busting his ass and he does give a damn, even if I did question his effort in a previous article. What makes Reynolds words so powerful is that he has come out and backed them up by making key plays in the D-Backs’ last two victories. Reynolds may have become the defacto clubhouse leader overnight, but I don’t think anyone is complaining.

What Does This Say About AJ Hinch

Hinch has called a career’s worth of team meetings in his short tenure as manager, all without lasting effect. After every meeting the D-Backs won their following game only to slip back into the mediocrity that has doomed the season. It has been long clear that Hinch’s words are not getting through to this club. It is understandable, why would players be willing to listen to a rookie manager with no coaching experience that is often viewed as a puppet for the general manager? The fact that there seems to have been a much greater response to Mark Reynolds words shows that Hinch’s words are going in one ear and out the other. Hinch may have perfectly fine game management skills but he doesn’t have that clubhouse yet. He may need to ally himself with Reynolds and ditch a few problem players in order to get it back.

What Does this Say About Chris Young?

It seems that Mark Reynolds comments could be directly correlated to Chris Young’s awful season. It is easy to question Chris Young’s effort because we haven’t seen any improvement since he signed his contract, we have only seen a remarkable drop in production. The fact that Chris Young is laid back doesn’t help his cause either. We see rare displays of emotion from Young, which gives the illusion that he doesn’t care. This may be unfair or warranted, it is hard to tell. What concerns me is that Young defended his teammates and took a stance against Reynolds comments, stating: “There are plenty of guys in this clubhouse who don’t sleep at night because we’re not winning ballgames. . . . Our entire clubhouse cares.” If Chris Young is aligning himself with the faction of the D-Backs clubhouse that isn’t producing this could be a dangerous move for him. He has quickly garnered the recognition as the leader of theunderachievers , the poster boy for the apathy facing this club. His best move would have been to get right behind Reynolds and agree with his comments. Deciding to defend the dead weight on the team says a lot about what goes through this young man’s head. If we are forced to pick sides, I would much rather go to war with Mark Reynolds.

Here is hoping that Reynolds comments actually spark something this season and don’t turn out to be another desert mirage.

July 6th, 2009 1:32 PM