Bryan Reynolds has been so locked in lately that even he wanted a little clarity when asked about his hot streak.
“Which streak are you talking about?” Reynolds sarcastically asked.
Fair question. There’s been plenty to choose from.
The Pirates’ longtime outfielder has put together a 34-game on-base streak and a 17-game hitting streak in June, and he’s been one of the most dangerous bats in baseball from the three-hole. He finished June with a .947 OPS, and his 34-game on-base run is the longest single-season streak by a Pirates player since Brian Giles went 35 straight games in 2001. The hitting streak ended June 28 in a 9-4 win over the Reds, but Reynolds still reached twice on walks to keep the on-base streak alive.
June has been good to him before, too. Pirates manager Don Kelly joked that the club may need to change the calendar in the clubhouse so it always reads June. Reynolds has posted an OPS above .900 in the first month of summer in five of his seven eligible MLB seasons, and he pointed to the same two things behind it: warm weather and finally catching up to pitchers after a few months of at-bats.
“Just have to thaw out,” Reynolds joked.
The success is coming from both sides of the plate, which is part of what makes this stretch so tough to pitch around. Reynolds is a natural right-hander who learned to switch-hit when he was around 10, working on the left side with his father. He began doing it consistently as a junior in high school, and that skill gave him an edge once he reached Vanderbilt.
The two swings look nothing alike. From the right side, Reynolds sets up with a much narrower base and uses a high leg kick.
From the left side, his feet are spread 44.2 inches apart, the widest for a qualified left-handed batter since 2023, and he uses a short stride with no leg kick at all. He keeps adjusting both stances as he goes.
“It's hard to string both sides together at the same time,” Reynolds said. “So, when it's clicking like that, it feels different.”
That comfort has also shown up in the numbers in another way: patience. Reynolds’ walk rate has jumped from 9.1% over his first seven MLB seasons to 15.2% this year, a figure that ranks in the 95th percentile per Baseball Savant. Reynolds said he doesn’t go up there thinking about drawing walks; when he’s seeing the ball well, they happen “by accident.”
The Pirates have given him a different kind of support this season, too. In previous years, Reynolds often felt like one of the lone constants in the lineup, carrying more of the burden to produce. Now, after a series of offseason moves and the promotion of rookie phenom Konnor Griffin, Pittsburgh has more hitters around him, and the offense has flipped from the worst in the Majors by OPS to the second-best through June 29.
One of the biggest helpings has come from Brandon Lowe, who bats right in front of Reynolds and leads the Pirates with 20 home runs. Lowe said that at this point, you can pretty much bank on Reynolds reaching base every time. Lowe already knew Reynolds from offseason workouts in Tennessee and from facing him over the years, and he’s seen a “mature approach.”
When a player gets on a run like this, teammates notice, even if they try not to stare too hard at the numbers. Lowe said it’s part of the rhythm of the game, and that Reynolds’ surge helps everyone around him.
“It's honestly pretty calming,” Lowe said. “If I'm on base, it's like, ‘All right, be ready to go.’
He's either gonna get on one way or the other. It's fun to see him get back and start showing people that he's still Bryan Reynolds.”
Even with an .874 OPS on the season, Reynolds wasn’t among the top 20 outfielders in the All-Star Game fan vote. He has made the game twice before, in 2021 and 2024, and after another huge June, a third selection could still be in play.
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