Mark Reynolds (baseball)

Mark Andrew Reynolds (born August 3, 1983) is an American former professional baseball third baseman and first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, Washington Nationals, and two stints with the Colorado Rockies. A right-hander both when batting and throwing, Reynolds was known for his frequent and long home runs, high strikeout totals, and defensive versatility, having been primarily a third baseman before transitioning to first base while playing for the Orioles.

The Diamondbacks drafted Reynolds in the 16th round of the 2004 MLB draft from the Cavaliers of the University of Virginia, with whom he played mainly shortstop. In the minor leagues, he played second base, third base, shortstop, and left field. He broke out in 2006 with Lancaster and Tennessee, batting .318 with 31 home runs and 98 runs batted in (RBIs) in 106 games. With the Diamondbacks in 2009, he established career highs in home runs (44), RBIs (102), stolen bases (24), and runs scored (98).

Between 2009 and 2011, he finished with top ten home run totals and at bats per home run rates. In 2009, he set the all-time record for most strikeouts among batters in a season (223). He also holds two other of the ten highest single-season strikeout totals (211 and 204), and led the league in strikeouts in four consecutive seasons. Upon his retirement in 2020, he led active major league ballplayers in career strikeouts with 1,927, and still ranks 13th all-time in that statistic as of 2025.

Mark Andrew Reynolds was born on August 3, 1983, in Pikeville, Kentucky. Reynolds later moved with his family to Virginia Beach, Virginia. In 1994 he played for the Virginia Blasters Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) baseball program, where one of his teammates was B. J. Upton. Both would eventually join B. J.'s younger brother Justin, David Wright and Ryan Zimmerman on a Hampton Roads-based autumn showcase team called the Mets in 2000. The five players, who were all shortstops at the time, rotated among the three positions on the left side and middle of the infield. While with the Mets, Reynolds was nicknamed "Skeletor" due to his lanky build and "Forrest Gump" because of his awkward running style.

Reynolds was a four-year letterman in baseball, basketball and golf at First Colonial High School, where he graduated in 2001.

In his three years at the University of Virginia, he was the starting shortstop on the Cavaliers baseball team. During his sophomore and junior campaigns, he played alongside Zimmerman, who had been shifted to third base. Reynolds led the team in home runs (15) in 2002, runs batted in (46) in 2003 and triples (5) in 2004. His 60 runs scored in 2004 matched a school record which has since been broken. His 35 career home runs at Virginia is tied for second all-time in Cavaliers history. Through August 2011, he was one of 29 former UVA players to have made it to the major leagues, along with former Cavaliers Michael Schwimer, Javier López, and Zimmerman.

In 2002, he played collegiate summer baseball in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox, and returned to the league in 2003 to play for the Harwich Mariners.

The Arizona Diamondbacks selected Reynolds in the 16th round (476th overall) of the 2004 Major League Baseball draft. During the 2004 season, he played 64 games with the Yakima Bears of the Class A-Short Season Northwest League and four games each with the South Bend Silver Hawks of the Class A Midwest League and the Lancaster JetHawks of the Class A-Advanced California League, with an overall batting average for the season of .253 with 12 home runs and 42 runs batted in (RBIs).