Bryan Reynolds has been a fantasy baseball star this year, but fantasy managers haven't given him the respect he deserves. The center fielder of the Pittsburgh Pirates (for now) started his journey of adversity this year by having an average draft position outside the top-200. Even now, there are 40 outfielders rostered more frequently than Reynolds even though he has only been outscored (in ESPN standard points leagues) by 13 of them. He's still less frequently rostered than fellow hitters Eugenio Suarez (and his .171 batting average), Eddie Rosario (.244 with 7 home runs), Gleyber Torres (only 3 home runs), and Adalberto Mondesi (who has 25 at-bats- in mid-June). This is a problem.
Reynolds has been underrated his entire career. In his rookie season (2019), he played 134 games and hit .314 with 16 home runs. Yet, he was overshadowed by budding superstars Fernando Tatis Jr, Mike Soroka, and NL Rookie of the Year Pete Alonso (and that's just in the NL). Despite his strong season, MLB.com even ranked him 22nd among rookies in terms of future value, behind players like Luis Urias and Francisco Mejia. Then, he had a terrible season in 2020 in which he hit .189 (which is probably the main reason he was drafted outside the top-200 players). However, that's not an excuse for his lack of fantasy recognition now.
This year, Reynolds owns a .286/.391/.500 slash line with a decent ten home runs. The key there is the over 100-point difference between the batting average and on-base percentage, which displays the effect of his 35 walks (which is 15th in the MLB). He's a very well rounded fantasy player, for he hits for average with a decent amount of power, he walks a lot and doesn't strike out too much, and he's also fast running the bases (but he hasn't used his speed this season with only one stolen base). The main issue with his game isn't even his fault- it's his team's.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have been atrocious. They rank second to last in runs scored (only in front of the Mets, who you can read more about here). Adam Frazier is their only other batting-title qualified player whose OPS+ is above 100 (which means they are above league average), and Kevin Newman joins Frazier and Reynolds as their only batting-title qualified players since their offense has been so bad that their players aren't getting enough at-bats to qualify. Furthermore, Reynolds, Frazier, Ke'Bryan Hayes (who's played in only eleven games), and Colin Moran are their only above-average hitters regardless of the number of at-bats. Basically, the Pirates are really, really bad.
This impacts Bryan Reynolds negatively, in a big way. His 31 RBI are outside the top-60 in baseball since even though Reynolds is getting on base so often, there's never anyone else getting on base for him to drive home. His 38 runs aren't bad, but they could be better if he was on a better team. If only that was possible...
The good thing is, that is possible! The trade deadline is coming up, and the 23-41 Pirates were pretty much eliminated from contention before the season started. They will likely sell at the trade deadline, and a contender (like the Yankees?) could be willing to go all-in and trade for Reynolds. If Reynolds is traded, his fantasy ceiling would probably increase because even though he'd have fewer at-bats, he'd have much more opportunities to score runs and get RBIs.
In terms of fantasy baseball, Reynolds would be a great piece to add to any fantasy team. First of all, if he's a free agent, he should be picked up immediately (except for in ridiculously shallow leagues). If he's not available, he's someone who it would be worthwhile to see what the cost would be to get him in a trade. A one-for-one trade involving giving up an overrated player (like the ones from earlier- Suarez, Rosario, Torres, or Mondesi) would likely be an option, and it would be a good one at that.
The point is, Bryan Reynolds is very valuable. He should not be a free agent in over 10% of leagues, for Reynolds is developing into a star right before our eyes. The problem is, with the minimal national attention that Pittsburgh gets, not everyone realizes it. So, now is a great time to take advantage of this situation- before it's too late.
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