ST. LOUIS -- Bryan Reynolds was looking to get something up in the zone.
Carlos Martínez obliged with a hanging changeup.
Reynolds didn’t miss it.
That three-run, fourth inning blast set the table for an 8-2 Pirates win over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium Thursday night.
Reynolds also opened the scoring with an RBI knock in the first as part of his three-hit night, continuing a June tear that has been one of the best for a Pirate hitter in recent memory. Over 83 plate appearances this month, Reynolds is slashing .378/.446/.676 with six home runs and 19 RBIs.
“He shows up every night and does something special,” Adam Frazier said. “That's the definition of an All-Star.”
Reynolds’ All-Star candidacy speaks for itself, even if he has no chance of being voted in by fans (polling closed Thursday, and at the last update he was not ranked in the top nine vote-getters in the outfield).
Here are the highlights to his resume:
• His 2.9 fWAR is the ninth-best in baseball, and ranked third among National League outfielders (behind Ronald Acuña Jr. at 3.6 and Nick Castellanos at 3.2).
• He is slashing .313/.403/.543 with 13 homers and 42 RBIs on the year.
• He is one of just four players with a .300/.400/.500 slash line. The others three are Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Jesse Winker and Carlos Correa.
He’s more than deserving to get added to the National League roster.
“I think everybody, when they were growing up, dreamed of that, so it would be awesome,” Reynolds said about the prospect of being an All-Star.
He’s not the only Pirate who is worthy of that nod. Consider Frazier, the guy that Reynolds has driven in 15 times this year.
“He deserves to be there, 100 percent,” Reynolds said.
“I was asked the other day, 'Why should Adam Frazier be an All-Star?' And my question back was, 'Why should Adam Frazier not be the starting second baseman for the National League team?' That's a better question for me,” Derek Shelton said earlier this week.
Frazier also bolstered his case Thursday and matched Reynolds hit for hit, including a homer of his own:
That gives him 94 hits on the year, pulling ahead of Castellanos again for the league lead.
Gerard recently took a deeper look at where Frazier stands against Ozzie Albies in their All-Star candidacy, and the two will almost surely be finalists for the second phase of voting.
"I try to tune it [the voting] out as much as I can," Frazier said recently. "Just take it day by day, and play hard and see what happens. But, you know it would mean a lot. I've been dreaming of that as a kid."
Albies remains Frazier’s greatest obstacle to becoming an All-Star. The second greatest may actually be Reynolds.
Unless Frazier pulls off an upset in phase two, neither he nor Reynolds is going to win the fan vote and earn a guaranteed spot. The Pirates’ representative for the midsummer classic will be chosen by the player ballot and commissioner's office. There will be a dozen reserve position players who get the nod, and it’s far from guaranteed that a 27-46 club will fill two of those spots. And unlike pitching, where there are usually a few extra players who get added late because someone started on Sunday, making them ineligible for the game, position player rosters are usually pretty set in stone.
Circumstance could play a role on if one or both players go. It would be an honor, but...
“It’s out of my control,” Reynolds said. “So if I am, I am. If I’m not, I’m not. But it would be cool, for sure.”
MORE FROM THE GAME
• There may be something to this new slider-heavy Chad Kuhl approach.
Kuhl pitched six strong innings for the third time in his four starts since returning from the injured list, allowing one run on three hits and three walks.
"He is more in control," Shelton said when asked what has been working for Kuhl of late. "He's staying more focused. I think at times before when we saw him throw a bad pitch, it affected two or three pitches. Now, if he throws a pitch where he doesn't want to, he comes back and executes the next pitch, and I think that's just a sign of getting better and maturation."
Kuhl stuck with his new pitch mix we've seen from him of late, throwing 46 sliders in his 93 pitches. That's an example of the type of pitch mix the Pirates' staff is looking for from him.
"It's one of those things where when it's your best pitch and you have the ability to execute it, you should use it," Shelton said. "That tick up is something that we've talked about."
He also has been relying on the four-seamer more, partially because the slider plays off it so well.
"It just kind of runs out of barrel because it looks like a four-seamer that’s gonna ride the edge," Kuhl said, describing his slider. "So obviously they have to swing at it."
Interestingly enough, while four-seam/slider is usually a strikeout pairing, Kuhl is still thinking like a sinker baller, looking to get quick outs in big spots rather than just chasing whiffs.
"It’s [the slider] so big in those situations where I’m trying to create contact, really not try and get swing and miss," Kuhl said.
• It's probably time to officially leave Reynolds' 2020 season in the past.
"I don’t want to talk about last year anymore," Reynolds responded when asked about the difference between 2020 and this season. "I don’t want to talk about last year. This year, I feel good and my timing is good, and I’m just trying to put the barrel on the ball."
That year will always stick out on the back of the baseball card, but it clearly isn't having any lingering effects for Reynolds.
"I don't think anybody's thinking about last year at this point," Frazier said. "He stays the same, no matter what. He doesn't really get too high or too low. He stays focused."
• There are plenty of areas to criticize this incarnation of the Pirates, but you'd be hard pressed to find a better top three in the order than what they have. You have the deserving potential All-Stars Frazier and Reynolds batting first and third, and Ke'Bryan Hayes is sandwiched in between.
"It’s our job, being the top three in that order, to just get on base and produce some runs," Frazier said.
They did just that Thursday, going a combined 8-for-12 with three walks in their 15 plate appearances. They scored six of the Pirates' eight runs of the day.
The rest of the lineup, though...
"We have to continue to work with the bottom to get those opportunities for the guys at the top," Shelton said.
• Speaking of Hayes, man, he can really flash some leather while making it look easy:
Young Hayes making it look easy. pic.twitter.com/TaAqn9Gk4U
— Pirates (@Pirates) June 25, 2021
He had a couple plays like this Thursday. In the fifth he tracked down a Matt Carpenter pop out well into left field, covering at least 50 feet of ground in the process. In the seventh, Yadier Molina batted a slow roller up the third base line off a check swing. Sure, Molina is about as slow as they come anymore, but a ball there almost always results in a hit. Hayes made the field and throw with plenty of time to spare.
I've written it before, but he makes the difficult look so routine that sometimes you can't fully appreciate how tough that play actually was.
• Michael Pérez got the start behind the plate for the second day in a row ahead of Jacob Stallings. Nothing is bothering Stallings in particular, so it's for workload management.
"He’s a little banged up, so I’m going to try and pick days to make sure [he's ok]," Shelton said.
Before the game Sam Howard threw his first bullpen since being placed on the injured list Sunday. He's feeling better landing on his right knee, and there weren't any restrictions to the session.
THE ESSENTIALS
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
Adam Frazier, 2B
Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
Bryan Reynolds, CF
Colin Moran, 1B
Gregory Polanco, RF
Kevin Newman, SS
Ben Gamel, LF
Michael Perez, C
Chase De Jong, P
And for Mike Shildt's Cardinals:
Dylan Carlson,CF
Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
Nolan Arenado, 3B
Tyler O'Neill, LF
Yadier Molina, C
Tommy Edman, 2B
Lars Nootbaar, RF
Paul DeJong, SS
Carlos Martinez, P
THE SCHEDULE
Wil Crowe (0-4, 6.42) will take on Kwang Hyun Kim (1-5, 3.60) Friday in game two. First pitch will be at 8:15 p.m.
IN THE SYSTEM
• After our Jarrod Prugar reported it would happen earlier this week, Oneil Cruz started getting pregame reps in the outfield in Altoona Thursday.
"The progression portion of it, he’s doing work," Shelton said. "Our expectation is that at some point you will probably see him play in a game in different positions."
Cruz went 0-for-4 with a walk in the Curve's 4-2 win over Harrisburg Thursday. Calvin Mitchell hit his fifth homer of the year and Mason Martin had a pair of hits.
THE CONTENT
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