Bryan Reynolds voted Pirates' MVP, David Bednar team's top pitcher by baseball writers

Bryan Reynolds refused to reflect on the struggles of his sophomore season with the Pittsburgh Pirates, preferring to put the memory of his .189 batting average in 2020 behind him.

Instead, Reynolds let his bat do the talking.

Not only did Reynolds rebound by making his first All-Star Game appearance, but he developed into the Pirates’ MVP. On Tuesday afternoon, Reynolds was announced as the winner of the Roberto Clemente Award, as voted by members of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Reliever David Bednar was chosen for the Steve Blass Award, given to the team’s top pitcher. Catcher Jacob Stallings won the Chuck Tanner Award for media cooperation for the second consecutive year.

Reynolds, 26, who received nine out of 10 first-place votes from BBWAA writers, is a first-time winner. He is batting .296/.384/.508 with 34 doubles, 24 home runs and 88 RBIs — all team bests — through 154 games this season. His home run and RBI totals are career highs, and he is three doubles shy of his rookie season total.

As consistent as Reynolds has been at the plate, his play in the outfield is just as impressive. After starting in left field for two seasons, he switched to center in May and made a series of spectacular sliding and diving catches. Reynolds was selected to his first All-Star Game as a reserve but ended up starting in center field.

Bednar, a 26-year-old right-hander from Mars, became the feel-good story of the season for the Pirates. The broad-shouldered, 6-foot-1, 245-pounder returned to his hometown after being acquired in January from the San Diego Padres in the Joe Musgrove trade. He made the Opening Day roster by striking out 18 batters in 8 2/3 scoreless innings over 10 appearances in Grapefruit League play.

Bednar is 3-1 with a team-best 2.11 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and three saves in 60 appearances this season. He has added a curveball to his fastball/splitter repertoire, and he is averaging 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings. Since Richard Rodriguez was traded to Atlanta in late July, Bednar has stepped seamlessly into a high-leverage relief role and has shown the makings of becoming their next closer.

Bednar is the ninth different winner in the 10-year history of the award and the third reliever to win, joining Tony Watson (2014) and Felipe Vazquez in 2017.

Stallings, the team MVP and a Gold Glove finalist last season, won the Chuck Tanner Award for the second consecutive season with five first-place votes because of his willingness to answer questions after difficult defeats and share his insights into the struggles of a young pitching staff depleted by injuries.

Stallings was the runner-up for the Clemente Award, reliever Chris Stratton for the Blass Award and third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes and pitcher JT Brubaker each received one first-place vote for the Tanner Award.

It’s worth noting that two of the players who received strong consideration for the MVP and pitcher of the year awards were traded to contenders in July.

Second baseman Adam Frazier, a 2020 Gold Glove finalist who was voted an All-Star starter, was leading MLB with 130 hits and had a team-best .324 batting average, .388 on-base percentage and 28 doubles when he was traded to the San Diego Padres for a pair of prospects.

Rodriguez was 4-2 with a 2.82 ERA, 0.84 WHIP and 14 saves in 37 appearances, striking out 33 while walking five and allowing only two home runs in 38 1/3 innings. He pitched the equivalent of a reliever’s perfect game, retiring 27 consecutive batters over eight games, and tossed 23 consecutive scoreless innings.