Bryan Reynolds scouting report and fit with the Mariners
Bryan Reynolds was mentioned in Ryan Divish's article as a player the Mariners have "long coveted." Let's take a look at his fit with the Mariners and what they would have to give up to acquire him.
The Mariners need to add a corner outfielder in order to fill out the rest of this lineup and President Jerry Dipoto has cited a desire to keep four capable outfielders and cycle them through the DH position. As we have documented the Mariners would like to bring back Mitch Haniger and still currently have Jesse Winker on the roster. However, it is likely Seattle will have to acquire one more player to fill out this roster. Could Bryan Reynolds be the guy?
First off, Dipoto and General Manager Justin Hollander have “long coveted” the Pirates centerfielder. They discussed him last offseason with the Pirates and it seemed that Pittsburgh had a price they would not lower for him, and understandably so.
The center fielder is 27 years old and will be 28 before opening day of next season. He will be a free agent following the 2025 season, meaning that he still has three full seasons of club control. While the team has acquired short-term fixes in other areas acquiring Reynolds could be a nice addition to the core of this team moving forwards.
Reynolds hit .262/.345/.461 with 27 homers in 2022 posting a 125 WRC+ according to FanGraphs. This means he was 25 points better than the league average hitter, and in 2021 he posted a 141 WRC+. He has been worth 12.5 fWAR in his first four seasons in the big leagues.
Reynolds primarily plays center field for the Pirates and his defensive numbers have tanked his WAR. While he does possess good speed and a strong throwing arm Reynolds looks overmatched in centerfield. He ranked in the sixth percentile in Baseball Savant’s Outs Above Average and also failed to garner good numbers in their Outfielder Jump Metric. He probably shakes out as an average to below-average fielder in centerfield all things considered.
Many scouts believe the 27-year-old could use a move to a corner to give him some help defensively as well as to keep him healthy. His speed and arm strength could play well in either corner at T-Mobile Park.
His bat would be a perfect addition to this Mariners lineup. It is a lineup that lacks “left handed element” according to President Jerry Dipoto, and Reynolds has the ability to switch hit. He has the capability to hit righties and lefties, and it is clear there isn’t a big difference in the numbers from side to side.
He shows more power as a left handed hitter, but the average has been there from the right side. He has been terrific against both, hammering 11 home runs against lefties and 40 against righties in the previous two seasons.
Many worry about some of the regression that we saw from him in 2022, but there are some conclusions we can draw. He did go through an oblique injury that could have hampered some of his performance, certainly as a difficult injury to bounce back from.
His barrel percentage dropped nearly 3 percent in 2022, and when you combine this with a 2.5 percent decrease in BB% and inflated strikeout numbers it could be cause for concern.
However, there should be no reason to worry about Reynolds. His hard hit percentage actually went up by a few percentage points to a career-high 42.9 percent in 2022, while also setting a career-high in home runs.
He started whiffing more and chasing outside the strike zone more than ever, and his speed dropped as well. To me I see nothing totally alarming in any of this, as it could easily be a player battling an injury and trying to produce at the same level.
A lot of Reynolds numbers also seem to be due to more of a willingness to expand the zone and chase, this could be a sign that the 27 year old was trying to hit his way out of a slump.
I am not concerned with Reynolds, and it wouldn’t shock me to see him end up in Seattle. It is clear that Dipoto and the Mariners love his profile and would love to find a way to acquire him.
Pittsburgh has many good young players and may want to hold on to a player like that as they rebuild. If Seattle could pry him away I would expect Harry Ford and a player like Jarred Kelenic to be in the center of any deal.
It remains to be seen whether or not Seattle can add to this roster via free agency, but if they go the trade route Reynolds is a name to watch out for. If the Mariners whiff on Mitch Haniger keep an eye out for a trade with Pittsburgh.