Bryan Reynolds homers as the Pittsburgh Pirates blank the Chicago Cubs 2-0
Yeah, thank, thank you for all being here today, um, to the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, Bob, and thank you all for believing in me. Uh, y’all took *** chance on me two years ago and, um, I felt nothing but support and love through this whole process. So, um, I’m, I’m super excited to be here for 9 years. Uh, this is, this is where we’re gonna call home, uh, me, me and my beautiful wife and, To thank y’all for being here for me and mom, dad, Cayden, Mr. Reed, thank y’all for just always being my biggest supporter. So this is an unbelievable day for me. Um, I’m just, I’m pumped to be *** pirate and be *** part of this wonderful clubhouse. *** lot of, *** lot of great talent back there and, and coaches and staff. Thank y’all for being here to support me. Um, y’all made this transition to the, to the big leagues super easy and, um, You know, I’m, I’m just, I’m pumped to go compete. The goal is to win, the goal is to win *** World Series, and I think we, uh, we, we got *** great clubhouse to go do that and I’m pumped to be *** part of it. Can’t wait to continue to get, get better, um, as *** player and just, you know, continue to grow as *** person as well, uh, in this clubhouse. And, you know, I wanna, they’re, they’re not here today, but just give *** big shout out to Joey Devine and Casey Close, uh, from my agency for working super hard, uh, on this. Um, So yeah, I’m super excited. Thank you again for this opportunity and, uh, I couldn’t be more proud to be *** Pittsburgh Pirate. We’ll open the floor for questions. Just raise your hand and I’ll call in. Yeah. KG, when you had told Ben, one of your big concerns coming in was what is, what is my team going to think when you look around this room today and see the amount of support that poured in for you? How much of *** relief is it to know that these guys have your back on and off the field right now? Yeah, this is, it’s, it’s amazing seeing the, the guys back there. Like those are. They, they’ve made, they’ve made me so comfortable in this clubhouse and, um, it’s been nothing but great, and I’m thankful for the relationships I’ve been able to build with them. And now that I think back on it, like, it might have been *** silly comment, but, um, I really do care about being ***, ***, *** better teammate more than anything and, um, I’m gonna continue to do that. So, Connor, obviously there’s been *** lot of reporting on the whole extension process. I’m sure that’s *** lot for you to kind of compartmentalize as it’s going on. How difficult was that to kind of play through and how happy are you now to just be able to focus on baseball? Yeah, it was, it was *** fun process. Um, definitely *** lot going on, and, you know, I’m just, I’m, I’m so, so glad that I can just go be the baseball player now. I can kind of put this behind me. I’m, I’m super excited about everything, glad it’s, uh, finalized and Now I get to go just go play ball. Alex, this has been speculated for *** while about if this could happen. In your eyes, when did this start to seem like *** real distinct possibility? Yeah, I mean, there were, there were talks, um, through spring. I mean, my, my agency, they, they did *** great job behind the scenes, kind of letting me, you know, prepare in spring training, um, be able to go do my thing on the field and, and just take care of the business behind, uh, closed doors and, um, you know, I, I, I saw *** real chance in spring that this could be ***, this could be *** big opportunity for me and, um, this is *** place that I want to be for *** long time and, uh, it finally, it finally got done here in the past few days and, Just super, super glad to be *** part of this organization for *** long time now. Chef in the front. Connor, to that point, after *** few years, you would have had options. Um, why 9 years? What, what really stuck out to you about this commitment? Yeah, like I said, this is, uh, this is where I see, uh, *** winning organization. Like we’re gonna, we’re gonna do *** lot of great things with the, the players that we have and You know, I want to be *** part of it for 9 years. I want to continue to be *** part of the build, uh, of winning, winning playoff baseball, and this is, this is *** great place for me, *** great place for my family, and, uh, I couldn’t be more proud. Some of the realities of small market baseball is, you know, fans have to say goodbye to players they get close to. What does it mean to you that you’re, you’re the guy that fans can now buy your, your jersey, and they know that they’re gonna be able to wear it for 9 years and they’re gonna be able to show up every day and see Connor Griffin. Yeah, um, I saw it on opening day. The, the fans are amazing. Uh, I can’t wait to see the, see the stadium packed like that, uh, for *** long time, for 9 years, and, uh, that, that’s why I wanna, that’s why I want to be here. I wanna, I wanna win for the city. I want to do it for them and, uh, because they deserve it. They deserve *** winning team. OK, what does it mean to you that an organization sees so much talent and potential in you that they’re willing to commit to you for that amount of time? Yeah, um. Uh, they, they’ve believed in me for *** long time. For 2 years, they’ve, you know, allowed me to progress through the minor leagues and just let me become the player that I am. And, um, just, just to be *** part of this organization has, has been, been *** blessing to me and, you know, thankful to be able to be here for another 9 years. That’s stability is, is really important to me and my family, and this is, uh, *** great opportunity for that. Jason, what’s gonna be your first big purchase? I don’t, I, I’m, I’m not really sure. Probably, uh, just taking, taking care of my family. Connor, I remember, uh, covering you at the future of the game last summer. Have you, this entire year, this year plus, have you taken just *** second to kind of just take it all in? This entire world and everything, I know you have baseball to take care of, but we’ve just taken *** second to just to soak it up. Yeah, I mean, the past year and *** half of playing baseball has been, it’s been unbelievable. I mean, there’s been ups and downs and last year was ***, was great and I had an offseason to kind of enjoy that, um, but kind of close the, close the book and move on to, to what was to come. And, um, and this year is off to *** great start. This, this week has been amazing debut week and then sitting here, uh, signing *** contract is, It’s been, it’s been amazing, but I just, you know, I just try to give all the glory to God and trust his plan and, and it’ll, it’ll all work out. Bob, was there *** moment where you started talking to the bench and you’re like, I need to, we have to keep on *** long term. Was there *** certain moment that came to your mind was like, yes, this is the player we want as the face of our franchise. Yeah, I don’t think there was *** specific moment, but I think it was really clear to the organization, to our baseball, uh, ops team, to the development team, to the scouting team. I mean it’s ***, it’s an army of people who took time to understand not only. The player, but the person to uh try to look behind and you know my job is, is to make sure we’ve asked the questions, looked under the rocks, made sure that we’ve looked through, and, uh, I have *** tremendous amount of faith in that process and those people in that leadership, uh, and so it, it seems to me that at this scale it is going to come together as *** process, uh, and as I said, I just couldn’t be more pleased that, uh, uh, that we got to where we did. Connor, uh, normally when somebody signs *** contract like that, you know, the responsible for your teammates will be drinks around me. You’re not old enough to buy drinks. Uh, what is it like to, as *** teenager to sign *** long-term commitment like this and to have that type of security in your life? Yeah, uh, it’s, it’s pretty amazing. Um, you know, I, I’m sure I’ll get *** little crap from the, from the guys about, about it, but, uh, you know, I’m, I’m just, like I said, super excited to be able to get this done today. Um, being, being 19, it’s, it, it’s pretty cool that all this is happening so quick, and, uh, but I, but I’ve always, uh, kind of told my family and the organization, like I’m, I’m prepared for this. I’m ready for it, um, and I’m ready to get on that field and go win some games too. To, Connor, what have these last couple of weeks been like for you? You answered it *** little bit already, but with spring training, with your Major League debut, with that week in Indianapolis, with all these talks going on, like what, what has it been like for you over these last few weeks? Yeah, there’s, there’s been *** lot of moving parts, um, *** lot of things going on, kind of behind the scenes and, you know, it’s been good for me to kind of learn how to, you know, keep the business side, um, on, on one side and then just be able to go play, uh, kind of find ***, *** balance where, you know, I can flip *** switch and just go be, go be the player. Um, it’s kind of prepared me, you know, for the, for the pressure. Uh, of, you know, being, being *** guy that signs *** contract, like I’ve, I’ve already kind of had the talks going on behind closed doors, like, I, I know I still got to go perform and that’s the most important thing. So it’s been good, uh, for me to kind of work on balancing that. I got 2 more. No, Connor, you have *** ton of pride in where you come from. There’s *** lot of little kids in Mississippi right now who are gonna read about this extension. They’re watching you play every day. What would you like to say to them? Yeah, it’s, you know, the extension is amazing. I’m super thankful for that, but there’s nothing more important than how, how you’re performing on the field and You know, that, that goes into your preparation, how you’re preparing for the day, preparing for the game, and, you know, the hard work is the most important thing. And, um, I’m proud to be from Mississippi and can’t wait to, you know, impact the community back home, uh, this offseason. Connor, with everything that’s happened to misunderstand and you’ve got here to support you. It, it’s one of the best weeks of my life, um, getting to debut, um, and then having my family here this whole week just experiencing my first week in the big leagues. Um, I’m super thankful that they’re, they’re here for me and I, I have *** great support staff and it can be *** better week and this is ***, *** great way to finish it off, but it’ll be even better if we can get *** win today. Good segue. Thank you very much. applause.
By JAY COHEN AP Baseball Writer
Bryan Reynolds hit a two-run homer and Carmen Mlodzinski pitched six-hit ball into the sixth inning, helping the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs 2-0 on Friday.Pittsburgh was shut down by Shota Imanaga before breaking through against Caleb Thielbar in the seventh. Ryan O’Hearn hit a leadoff single for the Pirates’ first hit of the chilly afternoon, and Reynolds drove Thielbar’s next pitch deep to left for his third homer.Pittsburgh won for the seventh time in nine games since its 1-3 start.VIDEO ABOVE: Konnor Griffin signs 9-year contract with PiratesChicago went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners on base. Ian Happ had two of the team’s six hits.Cubs slugger Seiya Suzuki went 1 for 3 with a fourth-inning single in his first game this season. He had been sidelined by a sprained right knee.Imanaga struck out nine and walked one in six innings. The Japanese left-hander threw 68 of 100 pitches for strikes.Thielbar (1-1) was lifted after Oneil Cruz’s two-out single in the seventh. The 39-year-old lefty pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings over his first four appearances this year.Mason Montgomery (1-0) replaced Mlodzinski with runners on first and second in the sixth. He struck out Pete Crow-Armstrong and walked Carson Kelly before fanning pinch-hitter Matt Shaw for the final out of the inning.The Cubs also left the bases loaded in the fourth when Moisés Ballesteros lined to Reynolds in left.Isaac Mattson and Gregory Soto each pitched an inning for the Pirates before Dennis Santana handled the ninth for his first save this season.Pirates rookie Konnor Griffin went 0 for 3 with a strikeout in his first career road game. The 19-year-old shortstop agreed to a nine-year, $140 million contract on WednesdayUp nextBraxton Ashcraft (1-1, 2.25 ERA) starts for Pittsburgh on Saturday, and fellow right-hander Edward Cabrera (1-0, 0.00 ERA) pitches for Chicago.
CHICAGO (AP) —
Bryan Reynolds hit a two-run homer and Carmen Mlodzinski pitched six-hit ball into the sixth inning, helping the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs 2-0 on Friday.
Pittsburgh was shut down by Shota Imanaga before breaking through against Caleb Thielbar in the seventh. Ryan O’Hearn hit a leadoff single for the Pirates’ first hit of the chilly afternoon, and Reynolds drove Thielbar’s next pitch deep to left for his third homer.
Pittsburgh won for the seventh time in nine games since its 1-3 start.
VIDEO ABOVE: Konnor Griffin signs 9-year contract with Pirates
Chicago went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners on base. Ian Happ had two of the team’s six hits.
Cubs slugger Seiya Suzuki went 1 for 3 with a fourth-inning single in his first game this season. He had been sidelined by a sprained right knee.
Imanaga struck out nine and walked one in six innings. The Japanese left-hander threw 68 of 100 pitches for strikes.
Thielbar (1-1) was lifted after Oneil Cruz’s two-out single in the seventh. The 39-year-old lefty pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings over his first four appearances this year.
Mason Montgomery (1-0) replaced Mlodzinski with runners on first and second in the sixth. He struck out Pete Crow-Armstrong and walked Carson Kelly before fanning pinch-hitter Matt Shaw for the final out of the inning.
The Cubs also left the bases loaded in the fourth when Moisés Ballesteros lined to Reynolds in left.
Isaac Mattson and Gregory Soto each pitched an inning for the Pirates before Dennis Santana handled the ninth for his first save this season.
Pirates rookie Konnor Griffin went 0 for 3 with a strikeout in his first career road game. The 19-year-old shortstop agreed to a nine-year, $140 million contract on Wednesday
Up next
Braxton Ashcraft (1-1, 2.25 ERA) starts for Pittsburgh on Saturday, and fellow right-hander Edward Cabrera (1-0, 0.00 ERA) pitches for Chicago.