Amid the Los Angeles Dodgers’ constant pitching issues this season, the lack of depth in the outfield has often been pushed to the side when examining the defending champions.
With next month’s trade deadline looming, there have been a few key outfielders linked to L.A. to bring their star power to Dodger Stadium.
However, one outfielder who hasn’t been linked to L.A. who could make sense is Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds.
Recently, the Pirates being a part of trade predictions has almost always included phenom starting pitcher Paul Skenes, but Bob Nightengale of USA Today put those rumors to rest while asserting that the Bucs will still be sellers at the deadline.
“The Pittsburgh Pirates are flatly rebuking all interest from teams wanting to engage in trade talks for ace Paul Skenes, but will listen to offers on every other player but him and outfielder Oneil Cruz.”
Knowing that Skenes and Cruz are out of the question, Reynolds has proven to be someone that can fit in well with the Dodgers, but is currently having a down year.
Reynolds is a career .273 batter who is hitting .235 in 2025 thanks to a slow start. He slugged exactly 24 home runs in 2021, 2023, and 2024, while he smashed 27 out of the park in 2022.
In his last 12 games, though, Reynolds is hitting .341 with a 1.000 OPS. He’s added a pair of home runs and nine RBIs in that span.
Defensively, Reynolds is less of a fit with the Dodgers.
The 30-year-old outfielder is currently graded in just the 10th percentile of qualified fielders with a negative Outs Above Average ranking of -3. Alternatively, he has an above-average arm that is ranked in the 66th percentile of active fielders.
Reynolds seems to be getting his offensive strides back this season, but depending on what a potential return would look like, another liability on defense — and being just three seasons into an eight-year, $106.75 contract — may not be worth it at this point of the season for the Dodgers.
If the Dodgers wanted to bet on his bat coming around, he would be an obvious upgrade over Michael Conforto. However, Conforto is on the hook for just this year, while Reynolds is halfway through a major contract.
