Right-hander Shane Reynolds pitched for the Houston Astros from 1992 to 2002, and compiled a 103-86 record with the team, earning All-Star recognition in 2000. While he and wife Pamela didn’t produce another family hurler, they’re currently rooting for their son, University of Texas Longhorns sophomore corner infielder, Ryan Reynolds.
And, early returns strongly suggest a trip to the big leagues is in the cards for Reynolds, the younger.
But First, A Look Back
Born in the northeastern part of the state in Bastrop, Louisiana, the elder Reynolds, now 50, attended Ouachita Christian High School 26 miles south in Monroe, where he earned three All-State selections. He initially attended Faulkner University in Montgomery, Alabama, and finished his education and baseball career at UT-Austin, where he was a two-time Southwest Conference first-team selection.
Shane was drafted in the 3rd round (72nd overall) by the Astros in 1989, and enjoyed an 11-year career, nine of them in Houston, compiling a 3.95 ERA for the ‘Stros, with 20 complete games and seven shutouts.
The 6’3″, 215-pound Reynolds helped to win four division titles for the Astros; his 100th victory was a division-clincher for the club in 2001.
Strom Warning
“He was my favorite pitcher I ever worked with,” current Astros pitching coach Brent Strom recalled recently. Strom was a coach at Houston’s Triple-A Tucson affiliate in the early 1990s, and had Reynolds on his roster. He also coached Reynolds in Venezuela when the young pitcher was in Double-A. “I’ve never had a pitcher who took the information that I gave, and not really knowing him well then as I do now, I never had a pitcher take the information and work as hard.”
“He completely changed me,” Reynolds said of Strom. “My mechanics were like a power pitcher, but I only threw about 90. You’re not really a power pitcher throwing 90 miles per hour. I had a so-so-curveball, and not a really good changeup.
Strom eventually helped Reynolds develop a more upright delivery and showed him how to add movement to his fastball. Reynolds gained better control of his curve and added a split-finger fastball to his arsenal, the final arrow that completed his major league quiver.
“I think that made my career and helped me get to the big leagues and stay there,” Reynolds said. “Brent Strom, yeah, I owe pretty much everything to him.”
An unexpected early 2003 release by the Astros led to a career that ended with the Atlanta Braves and Arizona Diamondbacks. Shane finished his MLB career, after the 2004 season, with a combined 114-96 record.
Shane was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.
A Future Astro Draft Pick?
Ryan Reynolds, then playing at 5’5″, 113 pounds, attended the same Monroe Ouachita Christian High as his dad (and the Duck Dynasty Robertson clan), at least in his final three seasons. Ryan also wrestled and played football at Ouachita. His freshman season was spent at Clements High School in Sugar Land, a southwest Houston suburb, 22 miles from Minute Maid Park, where Shane and Pamela had made their home.
Perhaps acting on a decision to attend his father’s school, a move likely encouraged by his parents, the Reynolds’, nonetheless, sold their 8,543 square-foot Sugar Land home sitting on eight acres for around $5 million in 2013. The family of four (including Ryan’s sister, Lauren, a 2017 UT grad) said goodbye to their three stories, six bedrooms, five full baths, four-car garage, media room, swimming pool, an elevator, a barn, and a backyard baseball field.
Ryan finished his high school career being named a 2016 Rawlings-Perfect Game Honorable Mention All-American (prior to the 2016 draft) and was ranked the No. 24 player in Louisiana by Baseball America.
On to the “Forty Acres”
Following the “go where Dad went” school theme, Ryan matriculated at UT in the fall of 2016 as a sports management major. As a Longhorn freshman, the switch-hitting Reynolds played in 60 games with 57 starts and earned an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention nod. The fully-grown 6’2″, 215-pounder hit .212 with five homers and 34 RBIs on the year while playing third base for the Horns.
Ryan Reynolds Turns Off the Switch
“I started switch-hitting my eighth-grade year,” Reynolds told the Austin American-Statesman recently. “It was kind of weird at first, seeing righty on righty. I did it all through the fall, so it’s normal now.” Yep, Reynolds has now abandoned his left-handed swing, but remains a solid presence in UT’s lineup.
Reynolds collected nearly 200 at-bats as a freshman. Against right-handed pitching, he hit .193 with 28 hits in 145 at-bats, while logging a 13 of 48 (.271) against left-handed pitchers.
Last fall, Reynolds approached UT coach David Pierce about only batting right-handed. Pierce initially balked at the idea, but as Reynolds persisted, Pierce relented after realizing that Reynolds would probably perform better if he was in his comfort zone.
“I didn’t really like it, but it’s a comfort for him right now and so we’re sticking with it,” said Pierce, who joined Reynolds in acknowledging that a return to switch-hitting could still happen, just not this season.
Through 40 Longhorn games this season, Reynolds is scuffling a bit with a .239 batting average, 3 home runs, 23 RBIs and nine doubles. In a recent 5-4 win over McNeese State, Reynolds’ third home run of the season sailed an estimated 442 feet.
He’s been the Longhorns’ cleanup hitter in many games. That placement in the Texas lineup has provided protection for Kody Clemens, who hits third, and was named a mid-season All-American by two different publications last week.
“Definitely you don’t want to pitch around me because then you’ve got Ryan coming up,” Clemens said. “He’s got a lot of power; he’s a hard out. It’s definitely nice having someone behind you that you know can hit the ball out of the park and do some damage as well.” Clemens, of course, is also the son of a former Astro pitcher, Roger Clemens, who pitched in Houston’s black, sand, and brick pinstripes from 2004-2006.
Reynolds, who mostly played 2B in high school, began this season playing first base for the first time in his career. But he was quickly moved to third base, his primary position last season.
“First base isn’t that hard; it’s not much different from third,” Reynolds said. “I feel pretty comfortable at third now.”
Apparently. It was while manning third base in a late 2017 big-stage game, that Reynolds made what many say was the play of the year, fielding an outfield relay throw, barehand on a bounce, and nailing the game-winning runner at home:
WOWOWOW!!
Barehand relay executed to perfection and Texas cuts down the would be walk-off run!! #RoadToOmaha pic.twitter.com/UqPQXFPWJA
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAACWS) June 4, 2017
For more Astros-related “Father Figure” articles, please see:
Longhorn Alum Roger Clemens Wins With 4 Ks: Kody, Kory, Kacy, Koby
Darryl Kile’s Kids Honor Legacy of Former Astros, Cards RHP
Craig Biggio’s Triple Crown: Kids Follow in Dad’s Diamond Footsteps
Astros Draft Trei Cruz, Grandson of Jose Cruz, Creating 3 Generations of Astros
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