The Cleveland Guardians designated outfielder/designated hitter Franmil Reyes for assignment on Saturday.

Reyes, the club’s former cleanup hitter, was optioned to Triple-A Columbus earlier this week amid a deep slump. He batted .213 with nine homers, 28 RBIs and 104 strikeouts in 263 at-bats over 70 games this season.

“Franmil wasn’t getting to the fastballs, and the breaking balls he hit were going for singles,” manager Terry Francona said prior to Cleveland’s game against the Houston Astros. “There weren’t many home runs. It was tough. It was difficult.

“We want to see our young guys play, and this gives the opportunity for somebody to claim him.”

Reyes, 27, belted 30 homers and had a career-high 85 RBIs last season. He hit a career-best 37 homers in 2019 when he split the season between the San Diego Padres and Cleveland.

Overall, Reyes has 101 homers, 259 RBIs and a .253 average in 481 games over five seasons.

The Guardians also released infielder Bobby Bradley and recalled right-handers Hunter Gaddis and Jake Jewell from Triple-A Columbus.

Bradley, 26, was 2-for-17 (.118) in eight games this season.

Gaddis, 24, gave up eight runs in 3 1/3 innings while losing his lone appearance with the Guardians this season. He was 5-3 with a 4.07 ERA in 17 appearances (16 starts) between Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus.

Jewell, 29, was 2-2 with a 2.63 ERA in 34 relief appearances at Columbus.

–Field Level Media