Few can relate to the everyday stress that comes with being a big-league ballplayer. However, many understand the strain and worries that come when awaiting the birth of their first child.
Those are in the rear view mirror for Bryan Reynolds. Earlier Monday morning, his wife Blair delivered their first child, a baby boy named Reese.
In his first game back, Reynolds’ newfound “dad strength” was on full display, going 2-for-4 with a double, home run and three RBIs in the Pirates' 6-2 Thursday afternoon win over the Cubs at PNC Park.
“Dad strength is a real thing, I guess,” starting pitcher JT Brubaker said of his teammate after the game. “Pretty awesome to see him hit a home run in his first game back. Double, home run. It was fun to watch. He just looked confident, in my opinion."
Reynolds couldn’t disagree with Brubaker’s claim.
“I felt good out there,” Reynolds said. “But the homer you’ve got to attribute to dad strength, for sure.”
The homer was a good one, flying 98.2 mph off of his bat onto the tarp-covered seats of the Clemente Wall, traveling an estimated 397 feet:
To go along with his fatherly power came a clear mind. Reynolds admitted after the victory that playing each night with a pregnant wife took a bit of a toll on him.
“It was definitely something that was always there,” Reynolds said when asked to reflect on being away from his pregnant wife earlier in the season. “It was stressful. It’s definitely nice that he’s here with us now.”
In true dad-like-fashion, Reynolds took advantage of any moment possible to acknowledge how proud he was to be a father. For most, that means a sappy facebook post or wearing a “number one dad” shirt.
For Reynolds, it means a new post-home run celebration:
Reynolds informed everyone that baby Reese and his mother are both doing fine, although all three members of the new family are a bit behind on their sleep.
The outfielder said he and his wife slept for only an hour on Monday, the day of the delivery, and even less the following night, the baby’s first night home. Wednesday night was better for Bryan and Blair, but he says both are still very tired.
“If he hasn't got any sleep, maybe we're just gonna go sleep deprivation on him and not let him sleep the whole month of September,” Derek Shelton joked after the game.
The Reynolds family is settling in. As he does with his teammates after a nice win, Reynolds took time to highlight how proud he was of his wife.
“She crushed it,” Reynolds said.
Now, back on the Pirates with a clear mind, Reynolds is following his wife’s lead, crushing baseballs.
• Reynolds is not the first new father in franchise history to have a big game against the Cubs. On May 28, 2004 outfielder Rob Mackowiak delivered a legendary show in a double-header.
Just hours after the birth of his son Garrett, Mackowiak hit a walk-off grand slam in the first game and a game tying ninth-inning homer in the second game. His performance is recognized by many as one of the most memorable moments in the 20-year history of PNC Park.
• Perhaps the person who benefited the most from Reynold's big day was Brubaker, who earned his first major league victory on Thursday. The rookie went 5.0 innings, allowing a pair of runs, only one of them earned on seven hits and a walk while striking out five Cubs on 86 pitches.
"It feels good. Kind of get the monkey off my back," Brubaker said. "Just get out there, just be able to give five, be in position to win the ballgame really was the first thing that came to my mind. And then once the game was over it hit me that it was my first win."
Brubaker's win did not come easily. There were multiple times in the outing where he was forced to make a few big pitches to get out of a jam. The righty's biggest moment was in the bottom of the third inning, when he found himself with runners on second and third with no outs.
Rather than giving into the strong Cubs lineup, Brubaker became more aggressive on the mound, limiting the damage to just one unearned run and striking out sluggers Javier Báez and Kyle Schwarber to end the inning.
"Really, it was just attack mode," Brubaker said. "... It was limit the damage, keep the ball on the ground. Not too many runs can score when the ball's on the ground, even if it gets through the infield. I was just attack mode and going right at them with my stuff and saying, 'here it is. Hit it.'"
"He continues to get better and show signs of why he's going to be a good major league starter," Shelton said. "To navigate through that lineup … that lineup was very back and forth today, Very rarely do you see a guy hit seventh who’s got a .950 OPS like Hayward. [John Ryan Murphy] did a good job with him. One time, he did get a little sped up, Murph went out to calm him down and to Brubaker’s credit, he calmed down. That's a hard thing for a young rookie to do. Dealing with traffic, he did a really nice job."
• Another impressive moment on the mound came from relief pitcher Geoff Hartlieb. After Sam Howard loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth, Hartlieb was called into the game with two outs to put out the fire. In just five pitches, he did just that, getting Cameron Maybin to fly-out to left field to end the frame.
"I think we're seeing the maturation of a really good reliever," Shelton said of Hartlieb after the game. "We talk a lot about opportunities. He’s taken an opportunity and he's running with it. That’s exciting to see. That’s the teaching points that he's really taken to. He's done a nice job in big spots."
So far this season Hartlieb has inherited 18 base runners. Just two of them have scored.
• Cole Tucker and Gregory Polanco also had fine afternoons at the plate, with each smacking a pair of singles. Tucker also drove in a pair of runs.
• For the second time of the series, Ian Happ robbed Erik Gonzalez of a base hit and multiple RBIs. The Cubs' centerfielder made a diving catch on a line drive to center in the bottom of the third inning. Similar to his first catch on Tuesday, the play resulted as a sacrifice fly.
Happ went on to leave the game in the top of the fourth inning after hitting a foul ball off into his own face. He was diagnosed with a right eye contusion. All X-rays came back negative.
• Friday, the Pirates take on the Reds in a double-header. Lefty Steven Brault will start the first contest while rookie Cody Ponce will be on the hill for game two.
