Pittsburgh Pirates: Who MLB.com Expects to Bounce Back in 2021

The Pittsburgh Pirates are going to be looking at their young hitters to take a step forward in 2021.  A key outfielder bouncing back would be huge for the team.

Heading into the 2020 season, Pittsburgh Pirates fans knew that the team had a lot of holes in their offense.  However, no one expected some of their better known players to struggle as much as they did.  This includes a key outfielder who broke out in 2019.

Bryan Reynolds just never looked comfortable for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2020.  Whether it was the traditional sophomore slump, or just being a young player who had struggled adapting to the overall changes to the season.  Either way, it was not something that Pittsburgh Pirates fan wanted to see.  The hope is that Bryan Reynolds will become a core piece to this team’s future success.

MLB.com writer Bill Leitch does not think it is time to panic about Reynolds.  He believes that Reynolds will bounce back for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2021.  Leitch recently wrote a column predicting which player will bounce back for each team across Major League Baseball:

"“Pirates: Bryan Reynolds, OF: Nobody really hit for the Pirates in 2020, but Reynolds had the look of a potential future batting champ until it all went away this year (.189 BA).”"

Bill is on point here.  Reynolds should bounce back and he showed the type of hitter he can be during a regular year.  In 2019, Reynolds burst onto the scene by slashing .314/.377/.503 and finished fourth in a loaded 2019 NL Rookie of the Year race.  Reynolds hit over .300 in four of the six months he played games in, which covered 134 games total.

It is really hard to envision Reynolds batting .189 again.  Part of the issue was that Reynolds was swinging and missing more than ever.  He whiffed on fastballs almost eight percentage points higher in 2020 than in 2019.  Reynolds, hit .412 off of 4-seam fastballs in 2019 while batting .246 on 4-seam fastballs in 2020.  Overall, his strike out rate climbed from an acceptable 22 percent to a more alarming 27 percent.

One thing that Pittsburgh Pirates fans know about Bryan Reynolds is his demeanor.  Reynolds carries himself like a bonafide veteran.  Everything he does during games, on the bench, or in between at-bats is productive.  Few players look as focused on the field as Reynolds does.  Last year, one could see that he was locked in but was lacking confidence.  If Bryan Reynolds can have a more normal spring training and work out the kinks , it could lead to a much more 2019-like season for Reynolds.