Pirates' Bryan Reynolds Focusing On One Position
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The Bryan Reynolds experiment at first base for the Pittsburgh Pirates will seemingly be put off for another day.
After rumors of Reynolds potentially seeing time at first base dating back to the end of the 2024 season, he's exclusively been playing right field for the Pirates in Spring Training and the two-time All-Star believes that's primarily where he'll reside in the field for the upcoming season. Reynolds primarily played left field last season but is making the switch to right field after Pittsburgh signed Tommy Pham earlier in February.
"It sounds like I'm a right fielder," Reynolds said. "It helps to focus on that. Just focusing on that, being a right fielder."
Bryan Reynolds, today, when asked about him seeing time at first base this spring:
— Noah Hiles (@_NoahHiles) February 18, 2025
"It sounds like I'm a right fielder. It helps to focus on that. Just focusing on that, being a right fielder."
Pirates manager Derek Shelton believes the move to right field can be beneficial for Reynolds and that his arm strength could play an even bigger role after he had 11 assists in 2024. Before
"I think our plan right now is to play Bryan in right [field,]" Shelton said. "Bryan had 11 outfield assists last year. Now, we're going to shorten up where he's at. We think we can take advantage of his full skill set by being in right."
Defensively, Reynolds had his worst season by FanGraphs' metrics last season. He set career lows with -5 Defensive Runs Saved and -13 Outs Above Average. His 11 assists were tied for the most in baseball in 2024.
Pham played 37 games in left field last season and posted one DRS and one out above average in 2024. For his career, he has posted 10 DRS and in left field but had -15 OAA.
With the Pirates' emphasis on their pitching, they need their defense to be much improved compared to last season. Pittsburgh had the ninth-most errors last season with 91.
If the new alignment does pan out, it'd go a long way toward helping the Pirates improve this season and it'd help get the most out of a young pitching staff that could be one of baseball's best if everything pans out.
