Pittsburgh Pirates: Bryan Reynolds to Undergo Surgery

Bryan Reynolds, one of the Pittsburgh Pirates top outfield prospects, will undergo surgery.  Reynolds was brought over in the Andrew McCutchen trade.

When the Pittsburgh Pirates traded Andrew McCutchen to the San Fransisco Giants this past offseason, they acquired pitcher Kyle Crick and outfielder Bryan Reynolds.  Of the two, Reynolds was the more notable talent.  He came from a poor Giants farm system where he was ranked fourth overall.  However, many fans and media knew that the Giants system was ranked as one of the worst in baseball and felt that the Pittsburgh Pirates got a poor return back.

Now, there is even more room for the Pittsburgh Pirates organization to be criticized for the return.  According to Adam Berry, the Pittsburgh Pirates beat writer at mlb.com, Reynolds will undergo surgery to removed a fractured hook in his left hamate bone.  For those who may not know, the hamate is one of the bones that connects the wrist and hand, it aligns with the pinky.  Berry also adds in his tweet that there is not time table for Reynolds’ return to game action. The typical recovery is 3-6 weeks.

A Quick Look at his Numbers

Reynolds was ranked by MLB Pipeline as the Pittsburgh Pirates number six prospect, and he ranks at number seven here at Rum Bunter.  So really, he did not drop much at all from the Giants’ system to the Pittsburgh Pirates system.  The main reason is because he batted a solid .312/.364/.462 at the Giants’ High-A affiliate last year.  Reynolds got some playing time in Spring Training this year and was assigned to Double-A Altoona to start the year.  He appeared in just four games for the Curve and had three hits, including two doubles, and two runs batted in.  Furthermore, he struck out three times including twice in the opener, while only walking once.

Next: Pittsburgh Pirates Week 2 in Review

It is too bad for Reynolds that he will miss significant time for obvious reasons.  First off, joining a new organization as the return for the team’s former franchise player is not an easy transition.  Also, in general, the former 59th overall pick had a chance to quickly move to Triple-A this year.  Jordan Luplow could be promoted at any given time, while Austin Meadows could be promoted as soon as June.  With those two likely to head to the MLB in the near term future, it could have allowed the former Vanderbilt outfielder to move up early.  For now, he will have to worry about getting his hand healthy and getting back to game action.