With Assurance Heading Into Offseason, Reynolds Already Looking Forward to ’24 (+)
PITTSBURGH — Heading into the offseason, things are a little bit different for Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds.
After being the subject of trade speculation for the past couple seasons, Reynolds won’t have to deal with the outside noise this winter.
The 28-year-old signed a long-term extension with the Pirates at the beginning of the regular season and is under club control through at least 2030.
The deal ensures not only that Reynolds will be playing in Pittsburgh in 2024, but that he’ll be around for the foreseeable future.
“There’s not gonna be the big question mark that’s been around for the last few,” Reynolds said at the end of the year. “So, I get to just be fully focused on Pittsburgh next year and the years after that and just trying to get to the playoffs next year.”
Reynolds wrapped up his 2023 campaign with another solid performance at the plate.
Though he didn’t quite put up the All-Star numbers he did in 2021, Reynolds was amongst the team leaders in a handful of categories.
In total, Reynolds slashed .263/.330/.460 with 31 doubles, five triples, 24 home runs, 82 RBIs and a career-high 12 stolen bases in 145 games.
For Reynolds, he feels that’s pretty much in line with what he needs to do to provide value for the Pirates’ lineup.
“Yeah, that would obviously be the goal, to replicate ’21,” he said. “But, I think if I can just put mid-20 homers, around 800-plus OPS or something like that, I think that’ll definitely help.”
2023 marked Reynolds’ fifth season at the big league level for the Pirates, and the 76-86 showing the team had was the best record he’s seen in his major league career.
The Pirates took a step forward, thanks in part to a young wave of prospects reaching the big league level. For the first time in a while, the Pirates are heading into an offseason with some extra buzz.
For Reynolds and his other teammates, they’re excited about the possibilities the future holds.
“I’m very excited about next year. I think that gets said every year, but I think this year has more weight with what we’ve done the last month or whatever it’s been,” he said. “We played well in the beginning, we hit a lull in the middle and had a bunch of young guys come up and we’ve progressively gotten better. So, I think good things are definitely coming here next year.”
With the current group already in place, the Pirates have laid the foundation for what they are hoping will be a team that reaches the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
Since then, the Pirates have only put together one winning season — an 82-79 showing in 2018 — and haven’t came relatively close to a return to the postseason.
It will be a big offseason for general Ben Cherington and the Pirates, as they look to find the right pieces to supplement the current group they have.
The possibilities of adding this winter in free agency and via trades only adds to Reynolds’ belief of what the Pirates can be capable of next year.
“Yes, it’s gonna be good to have everybody back healthy and have a full team again,” Reynolds said. “I’m really confident about next year. I think that we can make the playoffs. So, getting those guys back, maybe adding some other pieces here and there, I think that’ll get us there.”
It’s a different offseason for Reynolds for the first time in awhile, and he and the Pirates are hoping 2024 is different for the team as a whole.
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