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WASHINGTON — Bryan Reynolds' kickoff four seasons in Pittsburgh were not so much the launch of an All-Star career equally they were a feedback loop, continuous reminders of what it meant to be a Pirate.

If the three consecutive last-place finishes followed by a second 100-loss season weren't enough, the outfielder ran headlong into a ceiling then many stars had in the by: A de facto cap on salary commitments, an unwritten edict that prompted past stars to flee or become traded, that prevented free agents from joining the team, that kept a franchise with a rich history operating in the 21st century at 20th-century prices.

The tunnel seemed and then dark that the one-time Vanderbilt star requested a trade this offseason, a startling enquire from a player three seasons away from gratis agency yet constantly linked to merchandise rumors due to his club's futility on the field and ham-fisted rails record off it.

Then do understand if Reynolds has to steady himself these days.

His Pirates are off to a twenty-ix start, the best record in the National League, and while Reynolds, wife Blair and their 2 children are rooted in Tennessee, they can certainly store effectually in preparation for Steel City summers: Reynolds terminal calendar week signed an eight-yr, $100 million contract extension, the first ix-figure commitment in order history.

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"Information technology's significantly unlike," Reynolds says of the vibe as May dawns this flavor compared to years by. "I feel happy I'm going to exist here for a long fourth dimension.

"Happy we're settled with all that and look forward to continuing what nosotros're doing."

It all happened so fast. Here's how:

Bryan Reynolds had 23 RBI in his first 27 games of the season.

Run gratis

It's not like Major League Baseball changed its rules to encourage stolen bases and the Pirates responded by signing a 4 x 100-meter relay team.

Non unless you consider 37-year-sometime outset baseman Carlos Santana a speed merchant.

OK, and so Santana has just iii stolen bases in 3 attempts – one of seven Pirates with multiple thefts through 29 games. It's just that Santana's three steals in his 26 games exceeds his total for 349 games between 2020-2022. And the Pirates largely returned a cadre group of players who combined for 89 steals all of 2022 – 14th amidst xxx major league teams.

Then, what gives with the major league-leading 41 steals?

"Nosotros're fast, we're dynamic," says Reynolds, "but some liberty has been given. All the (new) rules take helped, but we're just kind of an athletic group."

With impeccable timing: The Pirates' 82% success rate reflects a audio exploitation of the larger bases and the limit on disengagements from the pitching condom. Reynolds hasn't been caught in five attempts, while leader Ji Hwan Bae has 11 steals in 12 attempts. Information technology makes for a strong criminal offence because the Pirates rank second in the NL with a .343 on-base pct – meaning dozens of those walks and singles accept substantially been converted to doubles.

That gaudy OBP won't concord up, and the Pirates' win full is aided past a schedule frontloaded with stragglers – they're a combined 16-6 confronting the White Sox, Reds, Rockies, Cardinals and Nationals.

Certain, the bats will slump. But speed never does.

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A #Buctober flashback

It'south already odd enough that Reynolds now counts Andrew McCutchen as a teammate, since the in one case and former star outfielders were traded for another between San Francisco to Pittsburgh in January 2018. V years later and McCutchen is back, on a ane-year bargain that puts him directly behind Reynolds in the batting gild.

And teammates with one guy who was one of his biggest fans when McCutchen was the 2013 NL MVP.

David Bednar was born in Pittsburgh and was a Mars Expanse High School senior when the Pirates broke a two-decade playoff drought and advanced to the 2013 NL Partitioning Series.

Now, Bednar is the Pirates' All-Star closer and a bit in disbelief he'southward contesting aslope the player who brought Pittsburgh baseball back from oblivion.

"Beyond surreal," says Bednar, who leads the majors with nine saves and has given up one earned run in 13 innings. "It's and then cool and getting to know him, non but is he a great baseball player, but he's also a smashing teammate, an awesome dude.

"Information technology's really been full circle."

Kudos to the casual fan that can cake out the five grim seasons preceding this 1 and fondly retrieve 2013, when social-media hashtags were however earnest and #Buctober was on everyone'south screen. An area hospital dressed all newborns in Pirates onesies. Johnny Cueto dropped the ball on the mound; two more playoff appearances followed.

"Pittsburgh is such a great sports town," says Bednar, who spent his college years on the Wawa side of Pennsylvania earlier San Diego drafted him in the 35th circular out of Lafayette College in 2016. A 3-team trade headlined by Joe Musgrove heading to the Padres in January 2021 brought him back to the land of Sheetz.

"Going back to high school, and when the Buctober stuff started, it's cool playing with Cutch, because that's where it really started. All my family and friends are big Bucco fans. It's cool to run across the fizz around it is definitely dorsum."

It remains an open question how long information technology might last.

Andrew McCutchen re-joined the Pirates as a free agent this winter.

'A lot of winning to exist done'

McCutchen signaled his commitment to Pittsburgh by signing a team-friendly six-year, $51.five one thousand thousand extension in 2012, nonetheless fifty-fifty his affordable bargain and connection to the city couldn't stop him from hitting the road. The Pirates picked up his $fourteen.75 1000000 2018 choice and then traded him to the Giants, continuing a grim franchise blueprint just at least netting a building block in Reynolds.

And as the decades passed, the math did non add upward: Major League Baseball hurtled toward $eleven billion in annual revenues, yet the Pirates' largest financial commitment remained the six-year, $60 million deal given catcher Jason Kendall – in 2000. It seemed no amount of acquirement sharing or rise tides could lift the Pirates' ship high enough to seriously compete.

Finally, there are some signs of permanence. In Apr 2022, possessor Bob Nutting broke Kendall's franchise tape, even if on another team-uniform extension for infielder Ke'Bryan Hayes: Eight years, $lxx million, with a 2030 lodge choice.

"The last ii years, with Ke'Bryan too," says Reynolds, "I think it lays a skillful foundation of what the future could look like."

Reynolds' extension got the Pirates off a rather ignoble list – now simply the Kansas Metropolis Royals, Chicago White Sox and Oakland A's oasis't signed a player to a 9-figure deal, fifty-fifty if the Pirates needed every penny of Reynolds' deal to exercise then. Certainly, Pittsburgh's lower-revenue fortunes play some role in its track record, but information technology's fair to notation the sectionalisation rival Cincinnati Reds saw fit to commit $225 1000000 to first baseman Joey Votto – 11 years agone.

Yet yous don't have to squint too hard to meet a core forming. Dynamic (and unprecedentedly big, fast and strong) shortstop Oneil Cruz should join Reynolds and Hayes equally a lineup fixture, but an ankle fracture will keep him out through June.

Starter Mitch Keller is nearing the ace status the club one time envisioned for him, and will have 2 more years of control after this one. Peak prospect Roansy Contreras has been ascendant his last three starts, completing at least vi innings and hitting out nineteen, albeit with vii walks.

And in a climate where mid-market teams must create gems out of struggling arms, the Pirates' pitching performance may have a significant success story. Right-hander Vince Velasquez, signed for a $3.15 one thousand thousand flyer this winter, has a 3.06 ERA through half-dozen starts, about two runs meliorate than his 4.93 career mark inbound the season.

The schedule gets tougher immediately: The Pirates open up a three-game road series Tuesday against the only other team hotter than them – the 23-half-dozen Tampa Bay Rays. The tenuous state of their rotation volition be greatly tested as the summer unfolds.

Yet Reynolds' deal answers one question effusively – and perhaps signals better, sustainable times ahead.

"At present that it's resolved, we know that it'south one less thing on his plate and he's a part of that core group going forrard," says Bednar. "And hopefully there's a lot of winning to exist done in Pittsburgh."