BRADENTON, Fla. — When MLB Network ranked the top 10 center fielders in baseball, Bryan Reynolds was thrilled to see that he was at No. 4 after playing the position for only one season with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Reynolds was ranked behind Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels, George Springer of the Toronto Blue Jays and Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins and just ahead of Luis Robert of the Chicago White Sox and Starling Marte of the New York Mets.
“Whenever you’re on a list with Trout, that’s pretty cool,” Reynolds said, with a sly smile. “I knew that when they came out with the list who was fighting for 10 to 2. To be on the list with those guys, that’s cool. There’s a lot of good players.”
Reynolds is the only Pirates player to be ranked in the top 10 at each position and the MLB Network’s Top 100 Right Now (No. 43), making him not only their marquee player but one who has moved to the top of teams’ wish list as a potential trade piece.
The Pirates are listening to offers for Reynolds, 27, who made his first All-Star appearance and was a finalist for NL Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards last season after he slashed .302/.390/.522 with 35 doubles, eight triples, 24 home runs and 90 RBIs.
That Reynolds tied for the major league lead in triples stood out to Pirates manager Derek Shelton, who considers Reynolds to be the perfect example of how he wants his team to play hard.
“The beautiful thing about Bryan Reynolds is, as soon as he hits the ball, he’s thinking triple. He’s not content,” Shelton said. “At some point, he may lead the league in doubles, but when he gets a ball that’s in the gap, he’s thinking about going to third.
“That’s a really cool thing, and I think it embodies everything we talk about culturally. When your best player runs out every single ball, it’s really easy for when you call kids up or add people to your organization to be like, ‘This is the gold standard of what we’re doing.’”
Then again, a $650,000 difference separated Reynolds and the Pirates from avoiding arbitration. And Reynolds said the Pirates haven’t offered him a long-term contract extension. Even so, the Pirates’ asking price is believed to be astronomical. They might be willing to listen, but they aren’t trading their best player without getting a great return.
When the Miami Marlins inquired about Reynolds, the Miami Herald reported, the Pirates wanted the Marlins’ past two No. 1 draft picks, shortstop Kahlil Watson and right-hander Max Meyer.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweeted that the San Diego Padres have engaged the Pirates in trade talks, with right-hander Chris Paddack and lefty Ryan Weathers mentioned. The Pirates more likely would be interested in top-five prospects like shortstop CJ Abrams, outfielder Robert Hassell, catcher Luis Campusano and lefty MacKenzie Gore.
Reynolds is focused on continuing to play like he did last season, when he moved from left field to center in late April and put the struggles (.189 batting average) of the covid-shortened 2020 season in the rear-view mirror. Through eight Grapefruit League games, Reynolds is batting .292 (7 for 24) with a 1.028 OPS and two doubles, a triple, two home runs and five RBIs, though he has nine strikeouts and one walk.
“I’ve been playing center for a long time and I always knew that was my natural (position). I finally got that chance last year and did the most with it,” Reynolds said. “I don’t feel like I have to show anybody anything. I don’t need to prove myself to anybody. If I just try to prove it to myself, I can go out there and do what needs to be done.”
Reynolds does have his sights set on improving his defense in center in hopes of winning a Gold Glove. He’s worked with first base/outfielders coach Tarrik Brock on his first step, reads and breaks. That MLB Network ranked Reynolds ahead of Marte, a two-time Gold Glove winner with the Pirates, is no surprise to Shelton.
“I think it’s a credit to him and it’s a credit to Tarrik,” Shelton said. “I mean, Tarrik started talking about him playing center field last year during spring training and was pushing me because Bryan was pushing him. And Bryan worked really hard on that.
“Playing left field at PNC is really challenging. You need almost another center fielder to be able to play over there, but the fact that he took to it, continued to work on it and if you look at it metrically, he got better playing there. It’s hard to metrically get better at things during the season, but he took the challenge that Tarrik put on him, that our performance team put on him and solidified himself in a position to be in the top five in baseball.”
Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Kevin by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .
