Bell likens Reynolds to 'video game player' taken in Cincinnati (Courtesy of StepOutside.org)

Bryan Reynolds smacks a two-run triple in the eighth inning Monday in Cincinnati. - AP

CINCINNATI -- Bryan Reynolds wasn't just quiet at the plate on Monday during Game 1 of the Pirates' Memorial Day doubleheader against the Reds — he was invisible.

In four at-bats, he generated five outs, visibly showing frustration in the process. With his fifth at-bat in the eighth, however, that all changed. Dramatically.

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That triple, that beauty coming off an offspeed pitch at the outside part of the plate driven the opposite direction, is the kind of thing Reynolds' teammates have come to expect from him.

And then, in Game 2, an 8-1 loss, he'd go 2 for 4 with a double, raising his slash line to .320/.369/.573 with five home runs and 16 RBIs in his first 103 big-league at-bats. Maybe most impressive, his .942 OPS ranks fourth among all regular National League left fielders, trailing the Brewers' Christian Yelich (1.164), the Braves' Charlie Culberson (1.029) and the Dodgers' Joc Pederson (.994).

So yeah, expect is the right term.

"He's lights-out," Josh Bell was saying of Reynolds. "I tell him all the time he's a joke. He's like a video game player. Both sides of the ball, playing defense, playing his tail off. Really fun to watch."

Clint Hurdle wasn't far behind with the praise:

For all that from his teammates and even his manager, Reynolds himself seems the least impressed. The image of him gritting his teeth and shaking his head in frustration following a strikeout is pretty much as animated as it gets. Even when things go well, there's a scientific, calculated precision as he describes it. He's not gloating or basking in the ecstasy of a game-changing triple.

The assembly-line robot doesn't feel proud when it attaches a wheel on straight. That's what it's programmed to do. Reynolds might have a heartbeat, but his demeanor is virtually identical.

Think I'm exaggerating? Listen to him describe the at-bat to me after Game 1, inside Great American Ball Park's visitors' clubhouse:

Pitch-by-pitch, you can almost hear the beep-boops as Reynolds' circuitry runs through its processes. Then, yeah, he got the hit and changed the game entirely. Big deal, right?

Such poise and composure — for a rookie, no less — is impressive, no doubt. And even though Hurdle is clearly pleased with Reynolds' performance, he kept it all in context as well. It's a small sample size, and the Major Leagues are brutal. One slump can result in a demotion or worse, and Reynolds now needs to continue to grow and to build upon his hot start.

"Nobody feels sorry for you up here," Hurdle was saying. "You want to stay up here? You keep playing up here. I think he's got the feel for that now. As a matter of fact, I think towards the end of the day he was not happy with the results he had gotten with the opportunities that he had. So you show up and you keep fighting."

While that "fight" is most noticeable off Reynolds' bat, his defense has been equally impressive. Hurdle lauded Reynolds' glove and effort in left field after Sunday's game against the Dodgers, and that carried into Game 1 against the Reds today, when Reynolds made a handful of plays, most noticeably gunning down a runner at third.

"You always want to find a way to help the team," Reynolds said. "If you're not doing that at the plate, you can do it on defense."

That is precisely what Bell described in calling Reynolds a "video game player." He's well-rounded. He has no memory of past failings or shortcomings. He's a switch-hitter.

And as of now, I'm almost convinced he runs on capacitors and diodes, too.

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