TUCSON — The last time I interviewed Rockies pitching prospect Greg Reynolds, he looked as if he’d just woke up from a nightmare.
In a sense, he had.
That was back in September, when Arizona ransacked him for six runs and seven hits in 1 1/3 innings of the Rockies’ 2008 home finale. The Diamondbacks batted around in their first at-bat, cranking out three doubles for a 5-0 lead. When manager Clint Hurdle finally pulled Reynolds, the fans at Coors Field booed with gusto. It was painful to watch.
Rockies fans had good reasons to voice their displeasure. The team, first of all, was a gigantic disappointment. Reynolds was, after all, the second overall pick in the 2006 draft. The club did, don’t forget, pass on Rays star infielder Evan Longoria and Giants ace Tim Lincecum, among others, to select Reynolds.
Still, I was curious how this bright, personable, 23-year-old from Stanford dealt with failure. Did his 2-8 season — in which opponents batted .322 against him and launched 14 homers in just 62 innings — lead to a winter of discontent? Did Reynolds mentally beat himself up? Make excuses?
I’m happy to report just the opposite. Reynolds remains confident in himself and his baseball future.
“It wasn’t even about getting back up on the horse this spring,” he said Tuesday. “I reflected on it early in the offseason, then I decided to forget about it and make myself better. I decided to turn up the workouts and really get after it.”
To that end, Reynolds transformed his exercise regiment and overhauled his diet, dropping about 10 pounds and boosting his energy.
But what I was most curious about is how he retooled himself mentally.
“The biggest part for me was just moving on from it, erasing it from my memory,” he said.
Early in camp, Reynolds has made a positive impression on his boss. Hurdle hopes that September nightmare stirred something in Reynolds.
“Sometimes a good old-fashioned whipping gets somebody’s attention, at any level,” Hurdle said. “I think he’s a smart enough kid that he hasn’t tried to deflect it. He’s owned up, feels he came up short, feels there is more there.”
But surely watching the opposition parade around the bases led to doubts running inside Reynolds’ head?
“No, not at all,” Reynolds said. “I knew I wasn’t right last year and didn’t perform to my abilities. But I never lost my own confidence and I don’t think I ever will. I have goals, I have a game plan. I want to show what I can do.”
