Pittsburgh Pirates: Comparing the Rookie Seasons of Bryan Reynolds and Jason Bay

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Pittsburgh Pirates, Bryan Reynolds
(Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /

The Verdict

Both Jason Bay and Bryan Reynolds had very similar offensive seasons. They sat nearly identical in both OPS+ and wRC+, around the 130-132 mark. That makes them top 10 rookie batters in Pittsburgh Pirates history with at least 450 plate appearances. Bay definitely was the better slugger, but Reynolds got on base more and was a better contact hitter.

However, since we are taking into account both fielding and base running, Reynolds takes the spot here. Bay was an awful fielder by many metrics, while Reynolds was overall average. While Bay was a below average runner, Reynolds was an average to slightly above average runner. This is all seen in their WAR. In terms of fWAR, Reynolds had a 3.2 mark while Bay was only worth 1.8 wins above replacement. bWAR showed even more of a gap with Reynolds sitting at 4.1 and Bay sitting at 2.2.

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What do you believe? Who had the better rookie season between Reynolds and Bay? Which rookies do you believe would have been the Pittsburgh Pirates best if the 2020 season was being played as planned? Ke’Bryan Hayes? Mitch Keller? Someone else? Sound off in the comments below! Let us know on Twitter and Facebook as well.