Mark Reynolds: Hot, hot, hot

It's no secret that Mark Reynolds has been playing very well of late. He's been smacking homers, taking walks, and making plays in the field. But do you know just how good he's been? Some numbers for your viewing pleasure:

Over the last four weeks, which encompasses 25 games and 98 plate appearances, Reynolds has hit .309/.429/.778. He's taken 17 walks, which is a walk rate of just over 17%. He's hit 12 home runs, over 50% of his total for the entire season. He's gotten 25 hits total, which means that 48% of his hits over the last four weeks have been homers.

In the 25-game stretch that covers the last four weeks, Reynolds had reached base in all but two games. TWO. In every other game he's gathered at least one hit or one walk. And in 12 of those games he reached base more than once. Since August 14th he's raised his OBP by 20 points and his SLG by 66 points. His OPS now sits at .816 for the season, which is higher than every current O's regular other than Adam Jones (Nick Markakis, out for the rest of the season, also has a higher number).

Reynolds started the season very slow this year and he missed some time with an injury. But he's made up for it in a big way over the past month or so. With Markakis lost to injury, Reynolds' bat becomes even more important as the Orioles try to lock down their first winning season and first playoff appearance since 1997. Hopefully he can stay hot against the Rays and A's this week, and really feast on the losing teams the Orioles play after that.

It's been discussed a few times in the comments of the gamethreads and the open threads, but what do you think the Orioles should do with Reynolds next year? They hold a $11M option for him in 2013. Should they pick it up? If not, should they still try to keep him? How much is he worth? A multi-year deal? Perhaps just throw arbitration at him and hope it comes out less than $11M? If the Orioles don't hold on to Reynolds, who do you think could play first base for the O's in 2013?