Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds has been placed on the bereavement list before their upcoming series in Arizona. The Pirates and Diamondbacks are idle on Thursday and will play three games at Chase Field beginning on Friday. Both teams are in the National League Wild Card race, with Arizona (53-50) a half-game back and Pittsburgh (52-50) a game back of the final spot entering Thursday’s light schedule.
We have placed OF Bryan Reynolds on the Major League Bereavement List.
We will add another player to the roster for tomorrow’s game and will announce that move accordingly.
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 25, 2024
Pirates All-Star Reynolds on Bereavement List, to Miss Crucial Series in Arizona
Diamondbacks fans are rejoicing on social media about the fact that they’ll miss Paul Skenes during this series. Now they’ll miss the Pirates’ other All-Star, too, at least for the first two games. The minimum stay on the bereavement list is three days, meaning Reynolds could join the Pirates on Sunday.
Reynolds once again has been the Pirates’ best player and one of baseball’s top left fielders in 2024. The switch-hitter is hitting .288/.353/.485 with 18 HR, 61 RBI, and a 137 OPS+. At the end of May, he was batting just .249/.320/.402. It looked like a continuation of his so-so 2023 season. However, he’s been on a tear since then. In June and July, he’s hitting .339/.397/.593, 11 HR, and 31 RBI. He’s been credited with a 1.914 WPA over that period.
Reynolds has been a reliable iron man for the Pirates, too. He hadn’t missed a game all season long until Wednesday night’s 5-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals when he sat out with back spasms. He was feeling better during that game and Pittsburgh expected him back in the lineup against Arizona. That’s all moot now. It will cause some shuffling in the Pirates lineup, possibly with players in reverse-platoon situations. The Pirates have won 10 of their last 13, which included taking series against the Milwaukee Brewers, Cardinals, and Philadelphia Phillies. They come to Arizona as a confident team, so it will be interesting to see how Reynolds’s absence affects them. The Diamondbacks are equally confident, having gone 14-7 in their last 21 games.
The Pirates added speedy outfielder/second baseman Ji Hwan Bae to the taxi squad. Although no formal announcement has been made, it’s clear that he’ll be added to the Pirates roster while Reynolds is on bereavement leave.
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