BRey is such a solid contributor, no question. But I would rather see the sub-headline be "Reynolds among the league's better outfielders the past couple seasons".
Thanks for the info on what Bryan Reynolds has meant to the Pirates. Only problem is that we seem to have become satisfied with having just a few persons like this in the lineup. This year we had Reynolds and Oneil Cruz, but we dropped off quite a bit with injuries and lack of play for Ke'Bryan Hayes, and an almost complete collapse from Jack Suwinski. We need a few LH bats for the lineup and have openings at 1B and OF. Preferably we land a few younger players who can develop and would not be costly for 4 or 5 years. Nick Yorke and Billy Cook were nice adds in August if they get the PT this year to get their bats into the lineup.
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.
Reynolds has definitely been our best player since he came up. Hoping he can maintain that consistency as he enters his 30s. He’s on the books for 6 years / $87.5 million + $20 mil option year.
I’d like to see him begin his transition to 1B next year. 60-80 games in the OF, 40-60 at 1B & 30-50 at DH.
1B can be a rotation of internal options (Reynolds, Cook, Endy, Triolo, Davis), cheap part-time vets (Welcome home Carlos Santana?), or other 1B capable utility guys (OF/1B or 3B/1B)
For the first 2 months of last season, the whole Pirates outfield was a blooper reel of bad plays, gaffs, and miscommunication. It was a coaching issue. That was obvious to even the most casual observer who has played even 5 games of baseball (which is why Nutting didn't bother to notice that Cherington's staff was demonstrably incompetent).
He really struggled coming in on balls, and if you remember, at least twice in the season, there was a near collision with Cruz who was running blindly out into LF. My guess is that Reynolds was reluctant to charge in on balls until he made certain Cruz wasn't racing out directly at him. That would explain the bad jumps. He also shied away from several balls in that gap between him CF (again... that is a coaching and communication issue).
The team and the entire organization lacks structure and coaching. This is the result, I think, of the "player-directed" development approach Cherington implemented. It seems to work pretty well for players on an island who are in control of the action, pitchers, but for position players, it has been an unmitigated failure top to bottom.
The problem is not Cruz. A major problem is that no one ever taught him how to play the field well. (Another problem is that it is just hard to get 6' 8" of person coordinated in the infield). At least that is my impression and opinion.
Amount of time the ball is in the air and how much ground is covered.
I just don't understand how he went from a 6 win above average defender in CF, to damn near unplayable in the corners. His age 27 season looked like his age 37 season.
Our Left Field from about 20 feet off the line to Dead Center has to be one of the worst examples of playability in MLB. PNC requires 2 CF's to be played well defensively. Reynolds has probably lost a step or two, but not anything like how he is being rated defensively. Suwinski in LF would be the answer, if he is going to come into 2025 resembling the player he was in 2023.
If he finds his 2023 game, we have an excellent defensive OF and a solid power hitter - .454 Slugging and .793 OPS with a drop last year to .324 Slugging and a .588 OPS.
I'd be all for both DeLauter and Kayfus. Big fan of both. Never been sold on sites like BTV but I can imagine them asking for something like that. DeLauter comes with a lot of injury you'd have to take into account.
BRey is such a solid contributor, no question. But I would rather see the sub-headline be "Reynolds among the league's better outfielders the past couple seasons".
Thanks for the info on what Bryan Reynolds has meant to the Pirates. Only problem is that we seem to have become satisfied with having just a few persons like this in the lineup. This year we had Reynolds and Oneil Cruz, but we dropped off quite a bit with injuries and lack of play for Ke'Bryan Hayes, and an almost complete collapse from Jack Suwinski. We need a few LH bats for the lineup and have openings at 1B and OF. Preferably we land a few younger players who can develop and would not be costly for 4 or 5 years. Nick Yorke and Billy Cook were nice adds in August if they get the PT this year to get their bats into the lineup.
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.
If his defensive metrics would pick up we’d be measuring it as a great value.
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
I named my fantasy team Gas House Gorillas last year.
Wham! A homer! Wha! Another Homer! Wham, wham, wham…..
Corkski.
Reynolds has definitely been our best player since he came up. Hoping he can maintain that consistency as he enters his 30s. He’s on the books for 6 years / $87.5 million + $20 mil option year.
I’d like to see him begin his transition to 1B next year. 60-80 games in the OF, 40-60 at 1B & 30-50 at DH.
1B can be a rotation of internal options (Reynolds, Cook, Endy, Triolo, Davis), cheap part-time vets (Welcome home Carlos Santana?), or other 1B capable utility guys (OF/1B or 3B/1B)
For the first 2 months of last season, the whole Pirates outfield was a blooper reel of bad plays, gaffs, and miscommunication. It was a coaching issue. That was obvious to even the most casual observer who has played even 5 games of baseball (which is why Nutting didn't bother to notice that Cherington's staff was demonstrably incompetent).
He really struggled coming in on balls, and if you remember, at least twice in the season, there was a near collision with Cruz who was running blindly out into LF. My guess is that Reynolds was reluctant to charge in on balls until he made certain Cruz wasn't racing out directly at him. That would explain the bad jumps. He also shied away from several balls in that gap between him CF (again... that is a coaching and communication issue).
The team and the entire organization lacks structure and coaching. This is the result, I think, of the "player-directed" development approach Cherington implemented. It seems to work pretty well for players on an island who are in control of the action, pitchers, but for position players, it has been an unmitigated failure top to bottom.
The problem is not Cruz. A major problem is that no one ever taught him how to play the field well. (Another problem is that it is just hard to get 6' 8" of person coordinated in the infield). At least that is my impression and opinion.
None.
I can accept that Reynolds isn’t Clemente out there, but Statcast thinks he’s Dave Kingman. Having trouble with that.
Any company with “stat” in its name is sure to be fake news.
Lies, damn lies, and statistics.
Amount of time the ball is in the air and how much ground is covered.
I just don't understand how he went from a 6 win above average defender in CF, to damn near unplayable in the corners. His age 27 season looked like his age 37 season.
Our Left Field from about 20 feet off the line to Dead Center has to be one of the worst examples of playability in MLB. PNC requires 2 CF's to be played well defensively. Reynolds has probably lost a step or two, but not anything like how he is being rated defensively. Suwinski in LF would be the answer, if he is going to come into 2025 resembling the player he was in 2023.
That’s a big if. Jack has a better chance of getting traded for nothing than being a starter, IMO.
If he finds his 2023 game, we have an excellent defensive OF and a solid power hitter - .454 Slugging and .793 OPS with a drop last year to .324 Slugging and a .588 OPS.
Back in the Jason Bay days, UZR had some issue with PNC that really screwed up Bay’s #s for years and had to be corrected. Maybe something like that?
Basically, I’m not ready to take any OF defensive metric from PNC as the Word of God just yet.
Or why maybe 2/3 of MLB First Basemen are in the negative defensive range every year?
I'd have him in right field, his arm looked good last year with less ground to cover for half his games should make his strengths play better.
That's the smart move - RF would be easier on him and could benefit his offense.
Chase DeLauter? I'm listening lol
I'd be all for both DeLauter and Kayfus. Big fan of both. Never been sold on sites like BTV but I can imagine them asking for something like that. DeLauter comes with a lot of injury you'd have to take into account.