Pittsburgh Pirates: Projecting the Team’s 2023 Line Up

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PITTSBURGH, PA – JULY 28: Bryan Reynolds #10 of the Pittsburgh Pirates in action during the game against the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park on July 28, 2020 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA – JULY 28: Bryan Reynolds #10 of the Pittsburgh Pirates in action during the game against the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park on July 28, 2020 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images) /

Left Field: Bryan Reynolds

2023 Opening Day Age: 28

Bryan Reynolds entered 2019 as a pretty un-notable prospect. He didn’t rank in the top 100, and entered the 2019 season as the team’s 9th best prospect when they had a pretty average farm system. However after injuries to Corey Dickerson and Gregory Polanco, Reynolds got a shot for regular playing time and ran away with it.

Through the first 546 plate appearances of his career, the switch hitter had a .314/.377/.503 line, and hit 16 home runs. More notably, he hit 37 doubles. Among rookies with at least 300 plate appearances, Reynolds ranked 5th in wRC+ (131), wOBA (.371) and OPS. While some may worry that his .387 batting average on balls in play made him a bit lucky, you shouldn’t expect much regression. Not only can he hit to all fields, but he also had a .378 career minor league BAbip, yet still hit .312/.373/.472.

Defensively, he’s nothing to write home about as he had +5 DRS, and zero range runs above average, but -3.5 arm runs above average and -3.5 UZR. While he posted his best defensive numbers in right field (+3 DRS, 0 arm runs, .5 range runs, 0.6 UZR), his best long term position is left field considering his weaker arm that only has a 40 current/future fielding grade.