NEW YORK -- Prior to Bryan Reynolds’ final at-bat in the Pirates’ 4-2 win over the Yankees Friday night at Yankee Stadium, Derek Shelton approached the All-Star outfielder with a simple question.
"I asked him, 'You ever hit two at Yankee Stadium?' and he said no,” Shelton recalled. “I said, 'Well I've seen people hit two at Yankee Stadium.’”
Determined to add himself to that list following a sixth-inning homer off Yankees starter Carlos Rodon, Reynolds stepped to the plate against Tommy Kahnle and got all of a 1-0 changeup down the heart of the plate, sending a no-doubter out to center field for a two-run shot that put the Pirates ahead for good in the eighth:
And he does it again! 🤝 pic.twitter.com/J0C9bsULTd
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) September 28, 2024
Once he rounded the bases and returned to the dugout, Reynolds had just one thing to say to his manager.
“He walked back and said 'Yeah, so have I now,’” Shelton said.
"It was cool he said that, and then I looked at him as I ran around the bases," Reynolds later added. "Spoke it into existence."
What Reynolds accomplished with his seventh career multi-homer game -- and second of the season -- wasn’t unusual. In fact, for as poor as the Pirates have performed from an offensive perspective this season, Reynolds has served as a consistently reliable contributor for an otherwise inconsistent lineup. The team has already secured a sixth straight losing season -- its 28th in 32 seasons dating back to 1992 -- and added another year onto its long playoff drought, but Reynolds has been a bright spot in an otherwise disappointing year for the Pirates.
The proof is in the fact that he leads the team in just about every offensive category, including batting average (.276), hits (170), home runs (24), RBIs (88), runs scored (72), on-base percentage (.344) and OPS (.794). Plus, he's in the lineup more than anyone else, leading the way in at-bats (615) and games played (154). He's managed to stay healthy enough to be a consistent asset in that No. 2 spot in the Pirates' order. That's something he's done each of the past four seasons, as he's played in 145-plus games each year and posted four straight seasons with 24 or more home runs, becoming the first Pirates hitter since Brian Giles (1999-2002) to accomplish that latter feat.
"I think he's grown into a really consistent major-league hitter," Shelton said. "I mean, we're talking what four years in a row, 20-plus homers. The way he handles his at-bats, the way he controls himself -- the consistency of Bryan Reynolds is something that's really important to us. He posts every day. He goes out. We challenged him this offseason to have a better arm. He comes back, he's leading the National League, or maybe even baseball in assists. Just anything you challenge him with, he continues to get better at. I think that's really important."
The highlight of Reynolds' season came back in the months of June and July when he went on an absolute tear by slashing .328/.389/.566 with a .956 OPS over the course of 47 games. During that span, he hit 11 home runs and drove in 31 runs. He also collected 18 multi-hit performances and enjoyed a 25-game hitting streak from June 1-29.
"That's the goal, the goal for everybody, to be as consistent as you can," Reynolds said. "Just try to do what you can every day. A lot of days you don't have it, but you've just got to try to go out there. I've been struggling the last few weeks. Today felt good."
Reynolds isn't wrong when he says he's been struggling as of late. Entering Friday's game, he was hitting a measly .227 with a .614 OPS over his last 23 games. He had just one home run over that span, while still driving in runs at a decent rate with 11 RBIs.
Despite the recent woes he's endured over the last month, Reynolds' overall presence and performance are crucial to the Pirates' success. That was evident Friday night and is clear on most nights, as he continues to help lead this group by example rather than words.
"Everybody's going to lead in their own way. And, I think the way Bryan leads is when your best player plays the way he does every day and posts every day, that's what we need out of him," Shelton said. "We don't need the vocal 'Rah Rah' stuff because that's not organic. That's not who he is. But, the way he goes about his business every single day, that's what our young players throughout the organization need to see."
As the Pirates head into Saturday's game two wins away from at least seeing a one-win improvement upon last year's 76-86 campaign, Reynolds believes a lack of consistency is what's truly holding this team back. And he's not wrong. If the Pirates don't lose 10 in a row and fade during the month of August, they could be preparing for a playoff run right now.
Unfortunately, too many stretches of inconsistent baseball proved costly. Reynolds thinks that's one thing that needs to improve if this team plans to contend in 2025.
"The goal is to continue what we did well for half to three-quarters of the year," Reynolds said. "Just play good baseball and make the playoffs, but we've just got to get over the hump of just hitting dry spells. Just be consistent."
