Stuff lasts forever on the Internet. Like this:
That’s A.J. Reed’s Cape League bio. Note the position — P.
He was a two-way guy at Kentucky and did both on the Cape in two years with Harwich, but he pitched better than he hit. On the Mariners’ 2012 home run bashing team, he was but a bit player for the offense, batting .176 in 34 at-bats. On the mound, he made seven starts and had a 2.20 ERA. The next year, Reed — still with that pesky P beside his name — batted .218 while delivering a 3.60 ERA on the mound.
While much of what is lamented as lasting forever on the Internet would be deemed embarrassing or worse, the P is mostly just a funny footnote for Reed.
He’s now one of the game’s best hitting prospects.
It was after his second summer in Harwich, in the spring of 2014, when Reed became one of the best players in college baseball. Still pitching and hitting, he had a 2.09 ERA and a .336 batting average to go with 23 home runs.
Despite his gaudy pitching numbers, scouts liked Reed more as a hitter, and they’ve been proven right. A second-round pick of the Astros in 2014, Reed hit 12 home runs in 68 games in short-season ball later that year. Then last year — probably his first full year as a hitter since T-Ball — Reed officially cemented himself as one of the best prospects in baseball. Between Class A Advanced and Double A, he hit .340 with a .432 on-base percentage and 34 home runs.
Baseball America ranked Reed the best prospect in Houston’s system and Astros fans are clamoring for him to be the starter at first base sooner rather than later.
Not bad for A.J. Reed, P.