Buddy Reed does it all for Tri-City Dust Devils

Tri-City Dust Devils center fielder Buddy Reed was a standout in three sports at St. George’s School in Middletown, R.I., but he wasn’t exactly the prototypical three-sport athlete.

Reed was the Dragons’ leading scorer on the soccer pitch, played on the top line for the hockey team and — of course — was St. George’s starting center fielder during baseball season.

“I was born in New York, so I probably first put on a pair of skates when I was 2, and soccer was right after,” said Reed, who earned nine varsity letters from St. George’s. “Baseball came later, and it wasn’t really something I took seriously. It was just something I played.

“Obviously I love it now, just the atmosphere, playing in front of huge crowds. The game has grown a lot on me.”

Drafted in the second round by the San Diego Padres out of the University of Florida, Reed decided to pursue a baseball career because it provided the best chance for athletic longevity.

Reed gets a chance to flash his three-sport athleticism every night for the Dust Devils as their switch-hitting center fielder. He said his hockey and soccer background makes him the five-tool baseball player he is now.

“As a hockey player, you’re always squatting, so my legs are pretty strong, and I have an edge in terms of speed on land,” Reed said. “Hockey and soccer have given me an advantage with my stamina. When we do early work, I don’t really get tired much. I’m usually the high-energy guy.”

Reed’s career at the plate hasn’t gotten off to the fastest start. Entering Friday, he was batting .228 with a .286 on-base percentage and .267 slugging percentage through 101 at-bats. But Dust Devils manager Ben Fritz said the former Gator is starting to find his way in the professional ranks.

“As far as this being about the process and not the result, he’s on that course,” Fritz said. “He’s got a cannon for an arm too, so it’s nice to have him roaming center field for us.”

Despite going 0-for-4 in Thursday night’s 4-3 win over Boise, Reed squared up three of the balls he put into play and threw out a Hawks runner trying to score. It was his third defensive assist of the season through 24 games.

University of Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan has managed more than 60 professional ballplayers during his nine-year career as a Gator. He said Reed was one of the most athletic players he has coached — an attribute he thinks could springboard him into a prosperous baseball career.

“From the first game of the year to the postseason, he approached each game the same, and he’s just a really, really good player,” O’Sullivan said. “Arguably, him and Matt den Dekker are the two best center fielders we’ve ever had here.”

Reed was one of the leaders of the 2016 Gators squad that made a run into the College World Series, posting a .362 on-base percentage and going 24-for-27 in stolen bases.

Quantrill solid in Tri-City debut

Cal Quantrill only recorded eight outs in his first start as a Dust Devil on Thursday night, but he made them count.

Quantrill, whom the Padres selected eighth overall in June’s Major League Baseball draft, gave up one hit and struck out four batters over 2 2/3 shutout innings. That performance set up the Dust Devils (2-5 second half) for a series-opening victory over Boise (3-4).

“I thought it went pretty well,” Quantrill said. “Would have loved to go deeper into the game, but it’s tough pitching on a pitch count. Hopefully the pitch count will be increased as we go. Maybe be a little more efficient with my pitches, go deeper into games and see if we can compete for a win more often.”

Quantrill underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow in March 2015 and had to miss his sophomore and junior seasons at Stanford as a result. After almost 16 months on the shelf, Quantrill said he was just happy to be back playing the game he loves.

“(The elbow) felt great. I don’t even think about it anymore,” Quantrill said. “Anytime you take 16 months off of baseball, it’s going to take a little bit more time than you think to come back. But now, I just feel like I’m pitching. There’s things I need to work on, but I don’t think about it much. Just trying to get after it.”

For the time being, the Dust Devils’ starting rotation will feature the Padres’ top pick in Quantrill followed by left-handers Eric Lauer (first round, 25th overall) and Joey Lucchesi (fourth round, 114th overall) pitching on consecutive days.

“Those guys got drafted where they did for a reason,” Fritz said. “They’re super talented. Three pretty dang good guys, and you get to run them out three nights in a row. And for me to sit in a front-row seat and watch them, it really is fun to watch.”

Lauer (0-0), who hadn’t allowed a run after his first two starts for the Dust Devils, toed the rubber for Tri-City on Friday. Lucchesi (0-1, 2.14 ERA) will face Christian Talley (2-0, 2.33) in the middle game of the five-game series against the Hawks at 7:15 p.m. Saturday.

A much-needed break

After missing out on wrapping up a playoff spot on the final day of the first half, the Dust Devils stumbled out of the gate to begin the second act, losing five of their first six games.

“I think there was a little hangover after losing the first half,” Fritz said. “Everybody got a little frustrated, understandably, but we didn’t bounce back like we should have.”

The three-day Northwest League All-Star break, which began Monday, gave the Dust Devils a chance to get away from the baseball diamond and refocus on winning the second-half Northwest League North division championship, Fritz said.

“The break could not have come at a better time,” Fritz said. “These guys needed to just get away from it, so to just have two days of nothing was huge. Everybody’s kind of refreshed, recharged the batteries a little bit.”

Thursday night’s win over the Hawks — who tied for the worst first-half record in the Northwest League at 16-22 — broke up a three-game losing streak for the Dust Devils.

This story was originally published August 5, 2016 at 8:18 PM with the headline "Buddy Reed does it all for Tri-City Dust Devils."