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Countdown to Arizona Diamondbacks Opening Day: D-43, Jack Reinheimer

#HeimerTime

By Jim McLennan
MLB: Arizona Diamondbacks-Spring Training Media Day Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

We asked you to rank the 40-man roster along with the 16 non-roster invitees to spring training, and every day between now and the eve of Opening Day, we’ll have a profile of one of those Diamondbacks.

D minus 43: Jack Reinheimer

  • Date of birth: July 19, 1992
  • Ht/Wt: 6’1”, 185 lbs
  • Position: Infielder
  • Status: 40-man roster
  • Bats/Throws: R/R
  • 2016 MLB numbers: DNP
  • SnakePit Rating: 3.79 [pattern of votes below]

Reinheimer is the last hope for the Diamondbacks getting anything more out of the Mark Trumbo trade, because the other three players have all been allowed to walk away, with Arizona getting nothing in return. Dominic Leone and Gabriel Guerrero were both DFA’d in November, and Welington Castillo was non-tendered the following month; so, it’s all down to Jack. He was the everyday shortstop with the Reno Aces in 2016, starting 127 games for them there. He hit a decent .288, and had a reasonable 93:48 K:BB ratio, but didn’t show much power, hitting only two home-runs. That led to an overall .737 OPS, which comes in at 45 points below team average.

However, it’s defense and speed that are probably more important elements of Reinheimer’s game than power. While fielding percentage is always going to be a limited metric, Jack’s .975 came in at exactly the average for a major-league shortstop last year. His range factor was 4.53, which would rank 7th among the 30 players with most MLB innings at the position in 2016 - not bad for a player who only turned 24 in July. He also has 98 stolen-bases over four minor-league seasons, so has shown decent wheels. The obvious comparison is to Nick Ahmed, and it’s likely Ahmed who stands in the way of Reinheimer’s further progress at this point.

If he can show he can provide better offense than Ahmed - and that’s not a particularly high bar (Ahmed’s career OPS+ is only 58) - then he could be a replacement as the incumbent moves into arbitration. Here’s a video on Reinheimer from before the 2016 season.

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