Kovacevic: How Reynolds, Keller both took off ... in opposite directions

It was February, and all four ballfields at the Pirates' Bradenton complex were buzzing with dozens of players bouncing from diamond to diamond and drill to drill ... but only two of them truly mattered, at least from my sunscreened perspective atop an observation deck:

1. Bryan Reynolds
2. Mitch Keller

And the only reason Reynolds was No. 1 on my list down there, to be honest, was that an everyday player just means more than an every-fifth-day starting pitcher.

Otherwise, it was a dead heat, in my eyes, as to who'd be the organization's most pivotal player at the Pittsburgh level in the summer to come. Because Reynolds was fresh off the worst season of his life, the coronavirus-shortened 60-gamer in 2020 that saw him slash an inconceivable .189/.275/.357 after a riveting rookie year. And because Keller, for all his legit potential built up as a stud prospect, didn't even have that.

Two guys in their mid-20s who now needed to make it, or they'd send a franchise already lacking in depth, in all likelihood, into an even longer tailspin.

Fast forward to this Tuesday night at PNC Park. A gorgeous golden sunset reflecting off the Downtown skyscrapers across the Allegheny, mirrored in the ugliest way on this side by both the attendance -- couldn't have been even a couple thousand -- and by the thorough irrelevance of the baseball itself between two bottom-feeders who'd both carried out deadline fire sales.

Pirates 8, Cubs 6 was the final, though I'm betting no one will admit to having witnessed it aside from a handful of the world's hardiest fans:

And here I was, seven months and 98 losses later, still focused on the same two principals.

Reynolds would go 3 for 4 with a double, three runs scored and nearly a fourth hit on a drive to deep center that was dropped by Chicago's Rafael Ortego and ruled an error. His slash line now of .296/.384/.508 adds up to an OPS of .893 that ranks No. 2 in Major League Baseball among all qualified center fielders, accompanied by 24 home runs, 88 RBIs and, oh, yeah, Gold Glove defense at a position he hadn't been expected to handle back in the spring.

Did I forget starting in the All-Star Game?

All right, that, too.

And that's to say nothing of the presumed challenge in toiling everyday for a team that's two losses shy of 100, though this angle -- like all else about Reynolds -- is richly appreciated from within.

A few hours before first pitch on this day, Derek Shelton spoke as passionately about Reynolds as I'd ever heard him on any subject, and I sure hope the play button gets pressed below:

For anyone who didn't press, Shelton began, "This guy plays harder than anybody in baseball. And I’ll give you a perfect example of this. Yesterday in Cincinnati, we did not play well. That’s obvious, right?"

Yep, 13-1. And the score at this time was 8-1 in the sixth inning.

"He hits a ball in the gap in a where we’re down. If you watch the replay of it, he’s going for third. Joey holds Yoshi at third."

Sixth inning. Joey Cora holds a much slower Yoshi Tsutsugo at third base even though Reynolds' body language screamed triple all the way.

"Bryan Reynolds is busting his ass. He’s going to third in a game where he could have taken a double. That’s the culture we’re talking about. When your best player every night plays like that, that’s the thing that stands out."

The Reds' TV network didn't capture that aspect well, but here it is, anyway:

Shelton plans to utilize it as an instructional tool for prospects, as he's done with other moments through the season.

"We will highlight that, not only with Bryan Reynolds but with the rest of our group. The thing that stands out to me is how hard Bryan Reynolds plays on a nightly basis and as much as he plays ... man, we have six games left or seven games left yesterday, and he’s doing that? That speaks to what we want to stand for."

As for Keller, candidly, I'm not sure what to say anymore that won't sound like I'm picking on him. Which wouldn't feel right in any capacity considering he's a terrific kid with legit talent.

So I'll stick instead with the cold facts that, after a semi-decent September bounceback of five starts, a 3.32 ERA, 19 strikeouts and seven walks in 21 2/3 innings, he flung that all away on this night with four-plus innings, six runs, nine hits, two strikeouts, three walks ... and the requisite long face when Shelton showed with the hook.

For the season, he's 5-11 with a 6.27 ERA and all kinds of other badness.

For the career, he's 7-17 with a 6.07 ERA and even more badness by virtue of volume.

I asked Shelton after this one what'd gone awry, and he replied, "Just too many balls over the middle of the plate," for maybe the millionth time.

The chief goal for the parent Pirates, as made clear all through spring training by Ben Cherington, Shelton and all concerned, was to "get better." In some cases, they did, particularly with the collective defense and fundamentals. But in so many more individual cases apart from Reynolds, they were either status quo or they regressed.

No facet fit this description more painfully than the pitching, where I can't type a single name of anyone who got better. David Bednar reported to Bradenton looking no different than he does now, pumping strikes at will. Chris Stratton's always had a solid spin. Richard Rodriguez picked up from September 2020 before being traded.

Anyone else?

Didn't think so.

I don't know who's to blame for Keller, apart from the obvious in Keller himself. But I also can't shake that, when Keller was demoted to Class AAA Indianapolis in June, he and Joel Hanrahan, the old closer here and now the pitching coach there, established some serious chemistry by all accounts, and Hanrahan was able to get Keller confident and throwing strikes again upon returning to Pittsburgh. And then, once Hanrahan wasn't around all the time, Keller resumed being what he was.

I don't believe Oscar Marin, the pitching coach here, will be fired following this season. Unlike Rick Eckstein, fired a few weeks ago, Marin was hired by this front office. And he was chosen not just to instruct pitchers here but to be the architect of pitching throughout the system. That's not someone who gets dumped after a year and change.

But that doesn't mean it isn't fair to question the work Marin's gotten done right here, regardless of who he's been assigned. One would think a pitcher could just get lucky once in a fortnight under this guy, and it never happens. That's damning stuff.

I asked Keller after this start how much his stint with Hanrahan meant toward his September rebound, and he replied, "I give him a lot of credit. No one ever wants to get sent down, but it was a good experience for me and Joel was there for me. He wanted me to get back to where he knows I can be, trying to get back to what I used to do and what I used to throw. He helped me mentally and physically to get back out there and built me up with confidence. That was huge for me and he’s someone I'll definitely lean on the rest of my career."

Hm.

Two springs ago in Bradenton, Keller was telling me how Marin was teaching him to pitch up in the zone "for the first time in my life." And now, when the results were exactly what we saw, it took another pitching coach to set it straight?

One former pitcher for the Pirates -- not Hanrahan -- texted me last week to say, "Wrong guy's in Pittsburgh."

Again, this isn't to make an excuse for Keller. Heck, Reynolds did what he's doing in a season the front office deemed the hitting coach a failure. But it is to say that there's a lot that goes into getting better or worse.

• Five zeroes followed Keller's line, with one each from Anthony Banda, Enyel De Los Santos, Chasen Shreve, Bednar and Stratton. The latter two weren't at their crispest, each allowing the tying run to reach, but they pushed through.

Related: I really enjoy watching Bednar pitch for the simple and pure reason that he throws strikes. Reminds me of Matt Capps in that sense ... right up until that ridiculous curve gets introduced into the discussion.

• Semi-related: 'Renegade' only makes an impact in this stadium now, not the one a couple blocks away. Sorry.

• This was Reynolds' double, right after Kevin Newman's infield single in the first ...

... and here's what happened next:

If it feels like that's happened often enough, it has. Meaning Reynolds and Colin Moran doing damage together. The latter's got 10 home runs and 50 RBIs despite being limited to 300 at-bats by multiple injuries.

Some advanced analytical theory downplays or outright dismisses the impact of protection in the lineup, but that doesn't appear to be Shelton's stance. He's talked a lot about how the two benefit from each other and did again after this.

"Colin had really good at-bats tonight. He did benefit," Shelton said. "Bryan had good swings throughout the night and was on base, and Colin had the three-run homer early and the base hit late. So it was a big day for both of them."

• Similarly, advanced analytical theory tends to rain all over the concept of clutch. My own belief on this front, and I've got research to support it, is that while players might not rise to an occasion, as the stats people maintain, players certainly can shrink from it. Think Barry Bonds in 1990-92, for instance, an MVP who went a combined 13 for 68 with one home run in those three playoff series.

(Now, he'd stop any and all shrinking, including cap size, once he got to San Francisco, but I digress.)

I asked Moran which one describes him, since he's always had this trait.

"Maybe a little bit better focus," he replied after a healthy pause. "There’s more of a focus on getting the job done. With runners in scoring position, you’re always having a purpose up there, whether it’s a guy on third less than two outs, getting something to the outfield. Or whatever the situation calls for to get the run in. I think just trying to lock in on focus."

This is a good ballplayer. His rights are held two more years, by the way.

• Good to see Jacob Stallings back, not to mention rapping a couple hits. No one in baseball wants to finish on the shelf, much less a catcher with a concussion.

• I'll wait before boarding any Roansy Contreras hype train with his debut Wednesday night. Not really sure why he's even being promoted when, one, he missed a chunk of the Altoona season with an elbow issue and, two, he hasn't pitched as many as four innings since June 22.

Sure feels like it could've waited.

• All it'll take to avoid 100 losses is going 4-1 the rest of the way, which is ... nah, it's mathematically impossible since it'd involve sweeping at least one series.

• A smorgasbord of psycho-stats for the day: If the Pirates beat the Cubs again Wednesday or Thursday, they'll have gone 5-0-1 in their past six series at PNC Park. ... This was their 30th comeback win, accounting for more than half their total of 59. ... They're 11-9 in their past 20 games overall. ... They're 50-22 all season when they score just four freaking runs. ... Their fielding percentage is fourth-best in the majors.

I don't know, either. Weird year.

• This could be my final baseball game of 2021. I always try to cover the very last one in Pittsburgh, but I'll be in Green Bay this weekend for football and, in the interim, the priorities are elsewhere.

This was a lousy season. It'll be lousy for a few more days.

It's got to begin "getting better" in 2022. And I don't mean in Indianapolis, Altoona, Greensboro or Bradenton. The first name of this franchise hasn't changed in 135 years, and it won't in the 136th. This is where it needs to happen:

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE LINEUPS

Shelton's card:

1. Cole Tucker, 2B
2. Kevin Newman, SS
3. Bryan Reynolds, CF
4. Colin Moran, 1B
5. Jacob Stallings, C
6. Ben Gamel, RF
7. Anthony Alford, LF
8. Hoy Park, 3B
9. Mitch Keller, RHP

And for David Ross's Cubs:

1. Rafael Ortega, CF
2. Frank Schwindel, 1B
3. Ian Happ, LF
4. Matt Duffy, 3B
5. Nick Martini, RF
6. David Bote, 2B
7. Sergio Alcantara, SS
8. Austin Romine, C
9. Alec Mills, RHP

THE SYSTEM

• Indianapolis
• Altoona
• Greensboro
• Bradenton

THE SCHEDULE

Thus concludes my natural hat trick in covering three Pittsburgh teams in as many days, which, by the way, saw only the Pirates victorious. Alex Stumpf will be back Wednesday to cover Contreras, and the final four games after that, as well. I'll be flying off to the Frozen Tundra.

THE CONTENT

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