Coming into the 2024 MLB season, the offense was expected to be a strength for the Pittsburgh Pirates led by Bryan Reynolds. They were crushing the ball during spring training, being near the top of the league in home runs and runs scored.
Out of the gate, that production carried over. They started the season 5-0, winning or splitting their first four series of the season. But, that 11-5 start has disappeared as their entire lineup went cold at once.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are now 25-29, as the only reason they are competitive most of the time is lights-out starting pitching. Mitch Keller, Jared Jones and Paul Skenes are as talented a starting pitcher trio as any in the major leagues.
But, if this team wants to climb back into the NL Central or Wild Card races, they need to start hitting. When scoring 4+ runs, they are an impressive 19-5 this season. If they can wake these bats up, they will be a team no one wants to face because of how good their pitching is.
Looking to potentially shake things up, the Pittsburgh Pirates have been experimenting with something in practice. As shared by Austin Bechtold on X, via Kevin Gorman of Tribune-Review Sports, the team has been using Bryan Reynolds at first base.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are getting virtually zero production from first base this season. Rowdy Tellez has not played well and the team is looking for alternative options. Connor Joe could see more playing time there, but he is part of the outfield rotation as well.
Trying Bryan Reynolds out at first base is certainly intriguing, but the Pittsburgh Pirates aren’t exactly teeming with outfielders who are in need of more playing time. There is a hole there as well with Michael A. Taylor not playing great baseball, either.
It will be interesting to see if Bryan Reynolds ever gets into a game at first base. For now, it seems just like an experiment in practice. But, if someone gets hot and garners more playing time in the outfield, manager Derek Shelton could look to shake things up.
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