Derek Shelton doesn’t pretend to have the details of Bryan Reynolds’ T-Ball and Little League at-bats, but he’s pretty sure they were impressive.

“This guy’s a good hitter,” Shelton said Monday night on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show after the first five-hit game of Reynolds’ MLB career led the Pittsburgh Pirates to an 8-6 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers. “He’s hit at every level throughout his entire life. The kid probably hit in T-Ball. He hit in Little League. He’s hit everywhere.”

The documented numbers during the first eight full seasons of Reynolds’ college and pro careers bolster Shelton’s claim.

The first 41 games of this season, however, have presented a serious problem for Reynolds and the Pirates. The 5-for-5 performance raised his average from .233 to .256.

“It looks like his foundation is back left-handed a little bit,” Shelton said of the switch-hitting Reynolds. “We saw it two days ago against the Cubs. (Monday), he showed why he’s one of our best players.”

Reynolds credited “some good conversations” before Monday’s game for his 10 total bases against the Brewers.

“I tried to get in the box and be confident,” he said. “Just trying to realize the kind of player I am, trying to get some of the confidence back, stopped doubting myself, get some good self-talk in the box, more than anything.”

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The home run in the ninth not only topped off his night but took some pressure off the Pirates, who lost most of a 7-2 lead before claiming the victory.

“That one felt nice. I was looking for that pitch right there, and I got it,” he said of the 95.4 mph four-seam fastball from Brewers relief pitcher Joel Payamps.

Reynolds said he didn’t allow the tense situation to put any extra pressure on him.

“Just got in a good (3-2) count and took a bet that I was going to get a heater and I did,” he said.

The Pirates may have found a potent back-to-back combination, with Reynolds and Oneil Cruz in the second and third spots in the batting order. Cruz has lifted his average from .209 on April 21 to .272.

He has a seven-game hitting streak, with two hits in five of the seven. He also has hit four of his seven home runs in May.

“It feels nice having him behind me. He’s been on fire lately,” said Reynolds, who believes he’s seeing more strikes. “They don’t want to put me on base. I just keeping using that to my advantage.”

Before Monday, the Pirates had been averaging fewer than three runs over the previous 13 games. And that included the 10-9 victory against the Chicago Cubs on Saturday. They scored two runs or fewer in eight games.

But the eight-run, 13-hit attack Monday got the road trip off to a good start.

Asked if he tried to shoulder more of the load to help pull the Pirates out of their slump, Reynolds said he acted like anyone would in a similar situation.

“That’s probably human nature to try to do a little extra when things aren’t going well,” he said.

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