If you picked Felix Reyes to win the Eastern League (EL) batting title prior to the season, you may be a clairvoyant. Either that, or you’re not exactly being truthful. Either way, the odds of that happening were not good; not good at all. In 95 games over two seasons with Jersey Shore, Reyes hit 9-56-.244/.281/.372 as a BlueClaw.

This season, the Phillies may have given him a bit of a challenge when he opened the season with Double-A Reading, but that was a bet that paid off. Literally, from day one of the EL season, Reyes showed he belonged when in his third at-bat – as the ninth hitter in the order – Reyes went deep to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning in what was a 6-2 Reading loss. In his second game he picked up his first Double-A double and in game five had his first multi-hit game going 3-for-4. The end result was 15-65-.335/.365/.572 in 95 games at Double-A, good enough for the EL batting title.

People helping people; Felix Reyes had the fastest sprint speed by an outfielder to make this play against Syracuse on September 18, 2025.

In three games at Triple-A, Reyes is off to the same sort of start. Again, it was his third Triple-A at-bat when he hit his first home run, a two-run shot. Before that he had already picked up his first hit, a single in his second at-bat. He added another single in his next at-bat to go 3-for-4. In two games, he is hitting .417 (5-for-12) with a 1.129 OPS. In his third game, he went 1-for-4 and made a dazzling defensive play in left field to help pitcher Griff McGarry‘s night.

Where did all of this offense come from?

“I went to Colombia and played winter ball,” said Reyes through teammate Oscar Mercado, who served as his interpreter. “I got a lot of reps there and then went to the Phillies complex (in the Dominican) and worked with Manny Amador (Phillies Dominican Republic Field Coordinator),” said Reyes. “[Amador] tilted my bat up a little more and became really comfortable,” the Dominican Republic native said. “He put me in a really good spot.”

At 6′ 4″, with a weight listed at 195 pounds – which just seems low – Reyes has good size, but as shown in the video above and by the fact that he stole 13 bases in 15 attempts at Reading, the big man has good speed and good instincts that allow him to get a good jump on balls hit in the gap and could allow him to swipe more bases than you might think by looking at him.

Reyes’ can play both outfield corner positions and both infield corner positions, but believes that third base is his weakest position. In 18 games at first base, Reyes did not commit an error this season. He posted a fielding percentage of .957 in left field and .982 in right field. At third base, his fielding percentage drops to just .927 in 73 minor league games.

“I’m most comfortable in the outfield – in left and right field – and I’m pretty comfortable at first base,” said Reyes. “I can play third base, but I’m not comfortable there as much as at the other positions.”

The 24-year-old is going to head to the Dominican Republic this offseason and play there.

“I’m going to have to go in and win a job, but I’m excited to compete,” said Reyes. “I get to see a lot of pitching there and a lot of breaking pitches and off-speed stuff there and that helps me to get at-bats and see that type of pitching.”

When Maikel Franco arrived at Lehigh Valley in 2014, it was Andres Blanco who took the young player under his wing and taught him how a player needs to conduct himself. With Franco, Blanco had his work cut out because the young player believed all of the hype he was getting and saw no need to strictly follow the rules. Blanco, had the exact opposite approach and was always on time and put in work both pre and post-game to improve. There are no signs that Reyes has any of the issues that Franco had. He’s there for the workouts and does not just go through the motions, preferring instead to take the work seriously.

Still, it doesn’t hurt to have a veteran player for young players – especially those facing a language barrier – to emulate and guide them. After all, Reyes is now just a step away from the majors and there are a lot of eyes on him. A bond appears to be building with fellow outfielder Oscar Mercado. The pair spend time together and Mercado acts as Reyes’ interpreter with the IronPigs. He also has spent some time trying to shape Reyes’ skills.

“I always tell young guys that they have their own work to do and I can help them with it, but I can’t do it for them,” said Mercado. “Everyone has their own way of doing things, but if I feel confident in something that I’m seeing, they I try to communicate it to them the best that I can.”

“The biggest thing that I try to take away from the older guys is the mentality, the strong and resilient mentality. I also watch how they take care of their business and I still have some things to learn there as I’m moving up,” admitted Reyes.

Next year’s IronPigs roster could have some exciting names included. Reyes and shortstop prospect Aidan Miller are both likely to be there and after his strong start Thursday night, pitcher Griff McGarry is another likely name for the roster. Another starter, Andrew Painter, the top ranked prospect in the Phillies organization will fight for a job with Philadelphia, but could also get more fine tuning with Lehigh Valley. Lefty reliever Andrew Walling was recently added to the roster from Reading and is likely to start 2026 with the Pigs. The hope is that first baseman Keaton Anthony and infielder Carson Taylor will both be healthy and return. Gabriel Rincones Jr. could fight for a spot with the Phillies and Justin Crawford – who is out with a concussion – will be in the mix to join the Phillies in the spring.