Reginald Preciado Gets Going in Myrtle Beach

June 13, 2022 by Sam Weiderhaft

On May 4, 2022, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans destroyed the Salem Red Sox in a score that looked like it would be seen on the bottom line of an NFL Sunday. 24-6 was the final in Virginia, as the Pelicans scored the most runs in recorded franchise history, dating back to 2005.

Two players stuck out from that night’s box score. Left fielder Peter Matt had tied a then-franchise record with seven runs batted in and three hits, including two home runs. The other was a little more surprising.

Reginald Preciado logged four hits with two doubles in six at-bats and brought in a total of six runs, which was tied for the second most in a single game in Pelicans’ history at the time. The Pelicans’ shortstop had been hitting just .132 at the time with 30 strikeouts in his first 53 plate appearances. After that night, his average jumped 54 points and set the tone for a much-improved month of May.

Preciado is a native of Boqueron, Panama, and was originally signed by the San Diego Padres as an international free agent in 2019 at 16 years old. With no Minor League Baseball season in 2020, Preciado failed to make an official appearance in the Padres’ organization. He was sent to the Chicago Cubs in December of 2020 in a trade that moved All-Star starting pitcher Yu Darvish to San Diego. Preciado was one of four Padres’ prospects that became members of the Cubs’ organization.

His first taste of Minor League Baseball came in the Arizona Complex League in 2021, playing 34 games for the Cubs and hitting .333. The switch-hitter smashed three home runs and brought in 25 RBI, while striking out just 35 times in 141 plate appearances. He was named a MiLB.com Cubs Organization All-Star following his rookie campaign.

2022 saw a slow start for Preciado in his first appearance for a full-season club. He struck out multiple times in 11 of his first 12 games as a Pelican in the month of April and tallied just six hits in 49 at-bats. But after that historic game in Salem, Preciado found a groove.

His month of May saw the Cubs’ No. 11 prospect hit his first two home runs of the season while posting a .284 batting clip through 18 games. He brought in 15 RBI off 19 hits with two three-hit games following his monster performance on May 4th. He logged a seven-game hitting streak from May 11th to the 20th, his longest of the season so far.

While Preciado has dipped off a bit through his first seven games in June, his month of May looked promising for a young prospect at just 19 years old. He’s been praised for his athletic ability and size, standing at 6’4” and 185 pounds. His consistency will be key as the summer moves on during his first year of full-season baseball.