Bryan Reynolds has been a consistent force in Pirates' lineup
Reynolds among the league's best outfielders the past couple of seasons
The Pittsburgh Pirates have struggled to generate offense over the past few seasons. There has been one reliable source in that span, Bryan Reynolds.
Originally acquired in the Andrew McCutchen trade, Reynolds has been brilliant since he’s been called up to the majors (outside the forgettable 2021 shortened season).
While he’ll never get the recognition that some of the other outfielders in the league get, Reynolds has been a model of consistency since 2021.
Looking at the last four years since the shortened 2020 season (2021-2024), Reynolds ranks among the outfield leaders in the following categories:
fWAR (13.3) - 12th
wRC+ (122) - 18th
Home Runs (99) - T11th
Runs (325) - 11th
RBI (324) - 10th
OPS (.824) - 14th
On top of that, Reynolds leads all outfielders in hits during that time frame with 633 and has earned All-Star bids twice.
What’s even more impressive is how consistent Reynolds has been despite how poor the production has been around him.
In that same time frame, the Pirates offense ranks the following:
OPS (.702) - 24th
wRC+ (91) - 27th
Hits (1994) - 24th
Home Runs (278) - 19th
With 99 of those 278 home runs, Reynolds has accounted for 35% of the long balls the team has hit since 2021. He’s also picked up 31.7% of the team’s hits in that span.
Even though he doesn’t bring much value defensively, Reynolds has managed to be at least a two-fWAR player in each of those years. That’s why there has been so much talk about potentially switching him to first.
While the sample size was small, Reynolds did fare much better when he was not playing the outfield (.956 OPS as DH) compared to when he was out in the field (.762 OPS as OF).
Oneil Cruz made some strong strides in the right direction, and Joey Bart was a huge addition to the lineup after being claimed off waivers, so the offense shouldn’t have to go completely through Reynolds anymore.
That being said, in a long baseball season where a lot can happen, having the kind of consistency that Reynolds has brought is well beyond the value they are getting with the extension they signed him for.
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Oy.
If you could get C. Santana back, that's a no-brainer. Legit stick, experience, good glove. Come on.
It has only been recently that I've heard around here that BRey is defensively iffy. But... okay...
Put a Cook or a York or a Gorski (kinda rhymes, no?) out there and have BRey follow Willie Stargell's path to first.
Sure. Gahead.
But the Bucs coulda had Santana last year and passed, so I'm not thinking they'll do it this year either. Gonna be Cook and Endy, I think.
Gonna be a young team, man. Just need a professional hitter to add. Santana would be nice.
_________________________
"Attention. There has been a slight change in the Tee Totalers' lineup...
Catching - Bugs Bunny
Left Field - Bugs Bunny
Right Field - Bugs Bunny
Pitching - Bugs Bunny
Third Base- Bugs Bunny
Center Field - Bugs Bunny
First Base - Bugs Bunny
Shortstop - Bugs Bunny
Second Base - Bugs Bunny"
I always did hit great in the cleanup hole...
-Wabbit
Of Cherington's three big extensions, Reynolds' is looking the best even if at the time it may have seemed closest to market rate as opposed to team-friendly.