Pirates A to Z: Bryan Reynolds recovers from slow start to be best player, requests trade

During the offseason, the Tribune-Review will offer Pirates A to Z: An alphabetical, player-by-player look at the 40-man roster, from outfielder Miguel Andujar to pitcher Bryse Wilson.

Player: Bryan Reynolds

Position: Outfielder

Bats: Switch

Throws: Right

Age: 27 (Jan. 27)

Height: 6-foot-3

Weight: 205 pounds

2022 MLB statistics: Slashed .262/.345/.461 with 19 doubles, four triples, 27 home runs and 62 RBIs in 145 games.

Contract: Second year of a two-year deal worth $13.5 million that will pay $6.75 million in 2023.

Acquired: From the San Francisco Giants, along with pitcher Kyle Crick and $500,000 in international bonus pool space, in exchange for outfielder Andrew McCutchen in January 2018.

This past season: Reynolds led the Pirates in most major offensive categories, yet endured an oblique injury, a stint on the covid-IL and a slump to suffer a statistical regression from his All-Star season of 2021.

It didn’t help that Reynolds and the Pirates couldn’t come to a settlement to avoid arbitration in the spring before finally agreeing to a two-year contract worth $13.5 million on April 14 to buy out his first two of four years of arbitration.

Reynolds was out of sorts to start the season, batting .194 (14 for 72) with one triple – a 49-mph jam shot at the Chicago Cubs that was the slowest recorded triple of the Statcast era — two homers and four RBIs in April. He went 6 for 41 (.146) over an 11-game stretch, saw his strikeout rate increase by 9.5% and was at a loss as to why his timing was off.

“It’s hard not to chase hits but baseball is hard, too,” Reynolds said. “It’s easy to just put it on one thing. That’s the nature of the game. You’re going to suck sometimes; you’re going to be good sometimes.

“When you’re not seeing it, you’re not seeing it. It’s just faster and you don’t track it well. When you’re seeing it well, it’s slow and you can see everything. Sometimes it just speeds up, whether that’s from trying too hard and stressing to get hits instead of just simplifying it — see ball, hit ball, like you’re playing backyard wiffle ball or something.”

Pirates manager Derek Shelton never lost faith in Reynolds, who was coming off a season where he slashed .302/.390/.522 with 35 doubles, tied for the MLB lead with eight triples, hit 24 homers and a career-best 90 RBIs. Reynolds was a finalist for the NL Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards, so Shelton practiced patience during the slump.

“Bryan Reynolds’ hitting is something that’s never gonna keep me awake at night,” Shelton said. “He’s gonna hit. He’s hit at every level. He’ll continue to hit. He goes through samples where he scuffles a little bit, and then we’re gonna see the best hitter in the game for a month. So I’m not really worried about him.”

The patience paid off, as Reynolds rediscovered his timing. He had seven doubles, five homers and eight RBIs in May, then exploded with a .333/.379/.610 slash line and eight homers and 19 RBIs in June.

Bryan Reynolds with his third homer of the game!!! pic.twitter.com/n5gzkoT2m2

— MLB (@MLB) June 29, 2022

Reynolds homered three times in an 8-7 win at the Washington Nationals on June 29. Reynolds, Jack Suwinski and Michael Perez completed an historic feat by becoming the first trio of teammates to each have a three-homer game in one month.

That wasn’t enough to get Reynolds another invite to the All-Star Game but he ended up leading the Pirates in on-base and slugging percentage, OPS, homers and RBIs, as well as strikeouts (141) and walks (56).

Reynolds hit a dozen homers over the final two months of the season, including a 425-foot walk-off blast against Devin Williams for an 8-7 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Aug. 1. It was the first homer allowed by Williams and ended his 30-game scoreless streak a day after the Brewers traded All-Star closer Josh Hader to San Diego. It also was the first career walk-off homer for Reynolds.

“I walked up to the plate telling myself, ‘This probably isn’t a guy you’re hitting a home run off of, so just try to get him in the zone or maybe he’ll walk you,’” Reynolds said. “I got to a good count and he threw me a heater.”

By season’s end, Reynolds was the runaway winner in voting for the Roberto Clemente Award as the team’s MVP by the Pittsburgh chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America. He was a Silver Slugger finalist but didn’t fare as well defensively, and shifted to left field in the final week to allow rookie Ji Hwan Bae to play center.

Shelton didn’t hesitate to call Reynolds the Pirates’ best player and the “gold standard” for his hard-charging baserunning, which got him nominated for the Heart and Hustle Award.

“When your best player plays hard every day it’s really easy when you have a group of young players to make sure you continue to push them effort-wise when they see that,” Shelton said. “Bryan continued to evolve at the plate as a hitter and he went through a stretch this year that was not very good. To be able to battle out of it … that’s pretty impressive.”

Despite a second consecutive 100-loss season, Reynolds sounded like someone who was excited about the worst part of the Pirates’ rebuild being over and serving as the centerpiece of a young core.

“I think the future’s bright, so obviously I’m looking forward to next year and the years after that. I think we’re going to get better,” Reynolds said. “Obviously I want to be a part of it. Anyway I can be part of it, I’ll be happy.”

Bryan Reynolds ranks among qualified NL centerfielders in 2022

• .806 OPS (1st)
• 27 HR (1st)
• .461 SLG (1st)
• 90.2 avg exit velo (1st)
• 50 XBH (2nd)
• 250 total bases (2nd)
• 125 wRC+ (2nd)
• .349 wOBA (2nd)
• 2.9 WAR (2nd) pic.twitter.com/wABABO39Z9

— Danny Vietti (@DannyVietti) December 3, 2022

The future: Just 48 hours before the start of the Winter Meetings, word leaked that Reynolds had requested a trade.

Another report indicated that Reynolds had rejected an offer for a contract extension that would have made him the highest-paid player in franchise history, in terms of dollar value. That put the Pirates in a pickle, as their most productive player was their least satisfied.

A Pirates spokesperson released a statement saying that the club had no intention of acquiescing to Reynolds trade demand: “While it is disappointing, this will have zero impact on our decision-making this offseason or in the future. Our goal is to improve the Pirates for 2023 and beyond. With three years until he hits free agency, Bryan remains a key member of our team. We look forward to him having a great season for the Pirates.”

Pittsburgh Pirates Manager Derek Shelton addresses questions on Outfielder Bryan Reynolds trade request. #MLB #WinterMeetings @CraigMish pic.twitter.com/EQUcn6BvS3

— SportsGrid (@SportsGrid) December 5, 2022

At the Winter Meetings in San Diego, Shelton told reporters Monday that he spoke to Reynolds before the trade request became public and said the “tone of the conversation was good.” Shelton reiterated that the Pirates plan for Reynolds to play for them this season.

“I think it’s unfortunate when things become public like that,” Shelton said. “Our expectation is that Bryan Reynolds is gonna be who Bryan Reynolds is on the field. We’ve talked continuously about the way he plays the game and the effort he gives. In my conversations with him, I don’t think that’s going to change. The business side we will let be handled, but my expectation is Bryan Reynolds will continue to be the player that he is.”

Shelton also dismissed any notion that Reynolds could be a distraction in the clubhouse if he’s unhappy about not being traded.

“He’s such a good human being that I don’t think any of this stuff will affect our clubhouse at all,” Shelton said. “I think the impact in our clubhouse will be Bryan will continue to be the person he is. So, I don’t think that that will have any impact on our clubhouse.

“With our young players, I think that coming to the big leagues is just immersing themselves in the big leagues and immersing themselves in our culture. I want our young players to watch how Bryan Reynolds plays. I think we’ve said this time and time again that if we get everyone to play with the aggressiveness and the effort that he plays with, we’re in really good shape because of how he exemplifies. I do not expect that to be of any issue.”