Reynolds hopes his big night is just the start

PITTSBURGH -- Before and after every game, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington and manager Derek Shelton meet to discuss the state of their team. Their conversations cover the typical questions -- what they’re seeing, what they need to see more of -- but lately they’ve been reminding each other to stay positive. Not just for themselves, but for the 28 players in Pittsburgh’s clubhouse as they battled through 17 losses in their first 21 games.

“The best players and best teams are mentally tough, and this is part of developing that mental toughness,” Cherington said Friday afternoon.

For much of the last month, it’s been hard for the Pirates to stay optimistic. As their lineup fell into a collective slump, individual hitters put too much pressure on themselves to turn things around. Even the seemingly slump-proof Bryan Reynolds, a silver lining through so many of their struggles last year, was not immune.

But for a team desperately trying to accentuate the positive, Friday night offered several examples as the Pirates snapped a four-game losing streak with a 7-2 win over the Brewers at PNC Park.

• Box score

“It's nice when you have a game like this and a bunch of guys get hits and you do things,” Shelton said. “I think it's a testament to all the work they're doing."

Reynolds led the way, putting together an all-around performance reminiscent of his excellent rookie campaign a year ago. The sophomore switch-hitter went 3-for-4 with a homer, a triple, four RBIs, three runs and a highlight-reel diving catch in left field.

“My timing felt right tonight, but I have been getting outside of myself and maybe trying to do too much and make up too much ground. That’s tough,” Reynolds said. “I just need to stay inside myself and get a good pitch to hit and not chase, which is the name of the game.”

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Shelton saw Reynolds’ timing start to come together in Cincinnati last weekend, noticing something click when he pulled a ball deep but foul -- just before the final two games of that series were postponed.

Reynolds had to wait several days to put that in action, and he went 1-for-8 with three strikeouts against Cleveland before sitting out of the starting lineup on Thursday. Consistency at the plate has been hard to come by when the Pirates’ schedule has been anything but consistent this year.

“Timing is a huge thing. I think it's one of the things we've been lacking, one of the things we've been working on,” Shelton said. “But I think we saw him on time today, and doing it from both sides of the plate is extremely difficult -- and he showed it tonight."

Even after Friday night, Reynolds is hitting just .205 with a .685 OPS on the year. His four RBIs against Milwaukee were three more than he had in his first 21 games combined. This is the same hitter who has hardly ever struggled, batting .300 or better every year at each level from high school to the Major Leagues.

For that reason, Shelton has repeatedly expressed a particularly high level of confidence in the 25-year-old.

“He's the same guy every day, and that's why I think he's going to hit. I think one of the things that we've talked about continuously, this guy is going to hit,” Shelton said. “He hit when he was in Little League. He hit all the way through high school, college. He's gone through a difficult part to start the season and, again, in 65-70 at-bats. But this guy is going to hit."

Reynolds kick-started the Pirates’ scuffling lineup with a second-inning solo homer out to right field off Brewers starter Adrian Houser. He was in the middle of Pittsburgh's three-run fouth-inning rally, too, lining an RBI single off Houser’s glove. The heart of the Bucs' order put together five straight singles to gain a three-run lead.

Shelton reiterated before Friday’s win that the Pirates aren’t even thinking about giving up on their young hitters because of their small-sample results thus far. Then the Bucs went out and rewarded their manager’s belief.

“We had contributions from a lot of guys. In a shortened season, a lot of stuff gets amplified,” said Colin Moran, who went 3-for-4. “There are a lot of good hitters on our team that we have faith who are going to come out of a little bit of a rut. Just like Reynolds did tonight. [Gregory] Polanco with the big hit. Their track records speak for [themselves]. They’re going to hit.”

Reynolds had the biggest hit in Pittsburgh’s three-run eighth inning, too, driving in Josh Bell and Moran with a triple crushed deep to left field off left-hander Alex Claudio. The ball came off Reynolds’ bat at 103.5 mph, according to Statcast -- tied for the seventh-highest exit velocity on a ball he’s put in play this season.

“Tonight felt really good. I think we’re on the right track,” Reynolds said. “I’m not going to say that anything’s cleared up yet, but tonight’s definitely moving in the right direction.”

Reynolds also shined in the field, making a spectacular diving catch to rob Christian Yelich of a hit in the fourth inning. As he began to dive, Reynolds said, his only thought was, “Man, I hope I knock this down.” Instead, he caught it, causing Yelich to raise his arms to the sky and Chad Kuhl to pump his fist high in the air.

“The ones that are hit at that trajectory, kind of right at guys, they’re always the toughest plays. You hope that it can be made,” said Kuhl, who earned his first Major League win since June 15, 2018. “I think I saw the catch probability was like 20 percent. Just a heck of a play. You tip your cap. He’s done a great job all year throwing guys out and making plays.”