Kovacevic: ‘We have the expectation of winning and making the playoffs’

MIAMI -- Bryan Reynolds doesn't take breaks at batting practice, and not just because, as a switch-hitter, he'll take sessions from both sides. 

No, when he's in between, he'll grab the nearest empty ball bucket, flip it upside down, then plop himself onto it for some impromptu scouting. Every batter. Every swing. Every path of every result. Been doing it forever.

Which might explain why, when I approached him two springs ago to pick a player who'd break out for the Pirates that summer, he named, without a pause, Jack Suwinski. When the latter was still in Altoona.

And why, when I approached with the same question, one spring ago, he named, without a pause, Jared Triolo.

So, when I asked yet again yesterday, within the team's workout at loanDepot park on the eve of the opener here against the Marlins, after Reynolds had wrapped up his nearly hourlong routine, I couldn't have been more surprised when he answered in the plural.

"I mean, everybody," he'd reply. "Look around. Look at the team we've got."

The most talented in his tenure?

"Yeah, I'd say so. I feel like our lineup, top to bottom, is pretty deep. Deeper than it's been in a long time. I'm excited about what we've got. I'm excited for the year."

Anyone else?

At 4:10 p.m. today, with Jesus Luzardo’s first pitch to Connor Joe, the Pittsburgh Baseball Club will have embarked upon its 143rd season, one that promises to be … well, who knows?

Could be the contention that Bob Nutting, Travis Williams, Ben Cherington and Derek Shelton all have publicly claimed to be the aim.

Could be the same crap as usual, including the first four seasons under this front office and field manager that’ve seen 218 wins against 328 losses, with all but a single month of that span, the stirring 20-8 start of a year ago, offering not so much as a scent of hope.

Also, hey, could be somewhere in the very big between.

It’s fun to fantasize, though, isn’t it?

And as long as I’m in mid-mood, let’s have at it with the following nine random things that could for-real go really, really right in the summer ahead:

9. DAVID BEDNAR AND CO.

He’ll have the ninth inning, he’ll be his best, baddest self, and he’ll have help like never before. It stinks that both Colin Holderman (illness) and Carmen Mlodzinski (forearm) open up on the shelf, but both brought big-time stuff to the back end in 2023, and neither issue’s serious. Add to that the still-too-hot-to-touch left arm of Aroldis Chapman and … yeah.

Reliable projections envision this as a top-five, even top-three pen across the scope of Major League Baseball. I won’t go that far, if only because it can’t be properly utilized without being handed frequent leads, but I won’t be caught complaining, either.

"The thing that's got me stoked," Bednar would tell me, "is that we come at you so many different ways. Different sides, different pitches, different arm angles. When you get to the late innings, there's a lot of different looks we can give you."

8. HONEST-TO-WILLIE POWER?

“I want to hit 30 again,” Rowdy Tellez was telling me. “I’ve done it before. I can do it again.”

That’d be not just welcome but wonderful. Tellez, who slugged 35 home runs two years ago in Milwaukee, slumped to 13 in 2023, in large part due to injuries that complicated his swing. He’s adamant that’s all in the past, and he did hold up through the spring. But he also went deep only once in 51 plate appearances while his teammates went on a collective rampage with 49, more than any team in the majors.

Tellez is the swing vote. I get the sense he’ll see a lot of platooning given his career splits, so 30-plus might be a challenge on that count alone. But if he can show consistent pop, ideally at cleanup, the entire lineup comes across as so much more logical than if it’s Joe, his partner at first.

Again, though, it can happen.

7. A BEATING HEART

As one American League scout observed alongside me this spring in Bradenton, “Who else is gonna hit?”

Meaning, of course, other than Reynolds, Oneil Cruz, Ke’Bryan Hayes and Andrew McCutchen, the latter of whom the scout assessed “will still give you the most professional at-bats of anyone here.”

Couldn’t agree more, front to finish. Because I can’t conceive of a foundational heart of the order even if Tellez were to take off anew.

I can’t know what to expect from Suwinski any more than anyone else. He could pull 40 balls over 40 fences and still strike out 250 times. Is he at cleanup? Or fifth? Or sixth? Or even starting by May?

“My goal’s just to be more consistent, to keep getting better,” he’d tell me, and I’m sure he’ll invest the sweat. But there’s got to be more of a productivity element to complement the power.

He can do that. I believe it. I’ve seen it, albeit in the shortest of spurts.

If not him, maybe it’ll be Henry Davis in there. Or Liover Peguero once he’s back up, which he will be. Or Triolo. There are options.

6. ACTUAL URGENCY?

No more monthlong experiments with Josh VanMeter and other random waiver dudes.

No more cobbling together enough Andre Jackson types for an all-reliever start. (I think.)

No more Bailey Falter to … wait, he made the team? He made the rotation?

All right, we’ll consider this one theoretical, but Shelton’s got to manage -- for the first time, really -- as if the most important game’s the one right in front of his nose.

He seems to be aware of that.

"Our goal's to compete right now," he'd say. "We've been building toward this for a while, and this is the time to take that next step."

5. FUNDAMENTAL BALL

A case can be made for Hayes as the preeminent defender at any position anywhere in the game, just as a case can be made for Michael A. Taylor, even at age 33, still ranking among the premier center fielders. Both of which will be wonderful to have.

Throw in Triolo, an exceptional third baseman in the minors who’s converted to second for obvious reasons, and that’s one-third Gold, presuming he can keep translating on that side.

Not bad.

Place Reynolds, Suwinski and Cruz in the safe-plus category, Cruz mostly because of his range and freakish arm, and it’s that much better.

That leaves first base, where Joe'll be far better defensively than Tellez, and catcher, where Davis doubtless still has much work ahead and … are we still at not bad?

Let me rephrase all of this: When it comes to fundamentals, and I mean across the board to include baserunning and everything else, there’d be no excuse for any step backward in Shelton’s fifth year. That’s just a fair expectation.

4. A KELLER SEQUEL

Mitch Keller takes the ball Thursday, and he’ll need to take it, oh, another 29 times or so for any of what I’m discussing here to matter. He’s that important, even with the genuine giddy-up this rotation might get from both Jared Jones and eventually Paul Skenes.

He’s still “the dude,” as he once told me he longed to be on this staff. And he’s capable of even more dude-itude in 2024.

Our talk in the dugout here yesterday:

3. THE TOP THREE

Similarly, there’s a predictable outlook atop the lineup because Cruz, but in particular Reynolds and Hayes, come with the most valued commodity in baseball, that being predictable results.

If Reynolds winds up being a perennial .275-25-80 guy, then he might be a tiny bit overpaid, but he’ll still be the one who’s wanted in the No. 2 hole for years to come. That’s awesome. That’s a linchpin.

If Hayes can extend his second half of 2023, as he appeared to do with a superlative spring, so much the better. Both of these players can be linchpins, signed to long-term contracts, committed to the cause and all that. Not everyone needs to be a superstar within a winning collaborative.

"We feel like we've got the people to make it happen," Hayes would say. "We'll get on base. We'll hit for power. And having Oneil back ... that can be the kind of thing that puts you in a different place."

2. AN OUTBREAK OF BREAKOUTS

The greatest variable, given a payroll that’s still shamefully below $100 million -- even though it was there in 2014-16 when revenues were way lower than now -- will always be the breakout factor.

It could be Davis, with all that pedigree, all that power and all that character. He’s a No. 1 overall pick, so it couldn’t be much of a surprise if he succeeds, but that alone adds to the anticipation.

It could be Jones, with that triple-digit heat packed into a compact, repeatable delivery with spin rate to spare on his other stuff. He’s electric. The fans will love watching him at PNC Park.

And Skenes …

“He’s just different,” as Davis told me. “He does things that other people can’t do. And at the same time, what has me most excited is that he never stops wanting to learn, never stops wanting to get even better.”

He chases greatness. No hype. Doesn’t need it.

Just wait.

1. O’NEIL. BLEEPING. CRUZ.

Which is to say … Oneil: 

Bleeping:

Cruz: 

As took place a dozen years ago with Cutch, someone’s gotta do the driving. This franchise hasn’t been blessed with many raw talents comparable to Cruz in this century and, candidly, I’ll run out of names after Cruz, Cutch and Starling Marte. And when they do come along, they can’t be cast as passengers. They’ve got to be front and center.

This kid, I dare say, comes complete with that characteristic. Maybe doubly so after robbed of being able to do what he loves for a full year.

"I'm back," he'd tell me with that trademark smile, then a thump of his heart. "All the way back."

He’s in the circle. They all seem to be.

Who’s with them?

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