Is he a useful major-league player?

When Reimold first came up through Norfolk, he looked like he’d be a multi-dimensional offensive star, potentially a .300 hitter with power. He seemed to take a long time to recover from a late-2009 injury. In 2011, he seems to established himself as a low-average slugger.

On the surface, Reimold’s major-league statistics make it look as though Reimold has degenerated from 2009 (.279/.365/.466 in 411 plate appearances) to 2011 (.247/.328/.453 in 305 plate appearances). But that doesn’t take into account the league context — Reimold’s 2009 is a 116 OPS+ and his 2011 is a 113 OPS+. The difference is that much more of Reimold’s productivity came from home runs in 2011 than in 2009. IN 106  more plate appearances, Reimold had only 2 fewer home runs; but eight fewer doubles, 19 fewer walks, and 34 fewer base hits. That indicates a less well-rounded set of skills. And that is reflected in his 2011 Norfolk numbers compared to 2009 — .394/.485/.743 with 9 home runs in 130 plate appearances in 2009; .237/.329/.410 with 6 home runs in 161 plate appearances in 2011.

If I were running the Orioles, my first plan would probably be to play Matt Angle in center field in 2012, moving Adam Jones to left. I think Angle gives the Orioles an outstanding defensive center fielder, and another look on offense as a singles-hitter with speed. But if that didn’t work, I’d have no problem playing Reimold. He’s a Plan B type player, good enough to fill a hole but not really good enough to have a solid hold on his position. The problem with Reimold on the Orioles is that he gives them another right-handed hitting home run hitter, along with Mark Reynolds, J.J. Hardy, and Adam Jones.