A member of the 90-win 2025 San Diego Padres is now the best reliever pitcher in the whole of Japanese baseball. Or at least, he has been across the season’s first two months.
Sean Reynolds, a 6’8 right-hander first acquired as a position player, appeared in 19 games for the Padres last season, including one start. He had also been with the team in 2024, appearing in nine more games, and getting out to an excellent start to his career in the majors. A disappointing second year in ’25, though, saw Reynolds failed to build on that, and after being non-tendered by the Padres, he instead opted to take a deal over in Japan, where he has been probably the best set-up guy in the game.
Across 20 games for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball to date, Reynolds has recorded a 2.14 ERA across 21.0 innings, striking out 31 batters. This puts him atop the NPB’s list of “top setuppers”, which is a phrase that should definitely catch on. And it also marks the career apex so far for a player who has tried several ways to make it as a baseball player.
Struggles As A Marlins Hitter
Reynolds began his professional career in the Miami Marlins organization after being selected in the fourth round of the 2016 Major League Baseball Draft with the 113th overall pick. And originally, he entered professional baseball as a first baseman and occasional outfielder.
During the early stages of his professional career, Reynolds played primarily as a corner outfielder and designated hitter, in the line-up for the potential he offered as a power bat. However, despite all the power generated by his massive frame and a very good walk rate, he was never able to get beyond A-ball as a hitter due to his prodigious strikeout numbers that took the idea of the Three True Outcomes to the extreme. In 2019, his final full season with the bat, Reynolds struck out a whopping 184 times in 319 at-bats, for a .577% strikeout percentage.
Following the 2019 season and the cancelled 2020 minor league season, Reynolds transitioned from position player to pitcher. During the 2022 season, he pitched for the High-A Beloit Sky Carp and Double-A Pensacola Blue Wahoos – across 50 appearances at those levels, he recorded a 4.13 ERA with 66 strikeouts in 52.1 innings, and earned 10 saves. The early returns on the switch were promising enough that the Marlins stuck with him; at the end of the season, they selected his contract accordingly, and added him to the 40-man roster.
Rebirth As A Padres Pitcher
Reynolds split the 2023 season between Double-A Pensacola and Triple-A Jacksonville before the Marlins promoted him to the major league roster in July 2023. He never actually appeared for the Marlins, however – on August 1, the Marlins traded Reynolds and Garrett Cooper to the Padres in exchange for Ryan Weathers, whereupon he was quickly ranked by MLB Pipeline as one of San Diego’s top pitching prospects.
Reynolds made his Major League Baseball debut in July 2024, and landed with a bang when he struck out all three batters he faced in one inning of relief. During the 2024 season, he appeared in nine games for San Diego and posted a 0.82 ERA across 11 innings, with a very impressive 21 strikeouts on the way. His fastball averaged 96.9 miles per hour, and the slider danced, even if neither was particularly consistently controlled.
In 2025, Reynolds opened the season on the injured list with a right foot stress reaction before returning in May. He appeared in 19 games for San Diego during the 2025 season, but did not hit his 2024 standards, finishing with a 5.33 ERA over 27 innings while striking out 25 batters. Across his first two MLB seasons – at least, to date – Reynolds appeared in 28 games with a 4.03 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 38 innings. If this performance in Japan sustains, maybe he will be back for year three one day.
Former Padres Flameout Becomes Japan’s Best Reliever