Pirates notebook: No 'touchdown' dances for Bryan Reynolds

Bryan Reynolds allowed himself a slight smile — and nothing more — when he reached over the left field wall Monday night and robbed the Brewers’ Mike Moustakas of a home run.

“I’m not going to throw my glove off and start dancing just because I made a catch,” he said. “I was happy I made it.”

What Reynolds did was nearly as impressive as Antonio Brown making a difficult touchdown reception, but you can bet the former Steelers wide receiver does more than smile on those occasions.

What makes baseball players less flamboyant?

“It’s a long season,” Reynolds said. “Things flip flop all the time.”

Manager Clint Hurdle said he wasn’t surprised the soft-spoken Reynolds took the catch in stride.

“He hasn’t gotten excited about anything he’s done here,” Hurdle said. “I think we ought to pay attention to that part of it.”

Hurdle said plays are magnified in football because the season is shorter.

“You play 162 (games) here and 16 of them there,” he said. “By the sixth inning, you’ve struck out, you’ve hit into a double play, you made two errors.”

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Getting close

Meanwhile, Reynolds, a rookie who started spring off the Pirates’ 40-man roster, was close Tuesday to getting enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title. He was hitting .337, which would have tied the New York Mets’ Jeff McNeil for the National League lead.

“I’m not worried about that,” Reynolds said. “There’s a lot of time left. I’m just happy to be here.”

But Hurdle said winning a batting title is a big deal.

“Only one guy wins it. I’ve never won one,” he said.

Hurdle came close in the Triple-A American Association in 1977 when he was playing for Omaha. He hit .327, four points behind the champion, Jimmy Dwyer.

“I tell you what. It twists you up when you lose by point or two (or four). I could have been a champion.”

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Goodbye, Dario

When Pirates general manager Neal Huntington was asked Sunday what needs to happen to facilitate top pitching prospect Mitch Keller’s return to the majors, he mentioned the presence of Steven Brault and Dario Agrazal in the rotation.

Huntington eliminated one of those hurdles Tuesday when he returned Agrazal to Triple-A Indianapolis. Keller remained in Indy.

There was hope Agrazal would continue the strong start to his rookie season after he was 2-0 and had pitched through the sixth inning in four of his first five starts.

But in the past three, his ERA plummeted from 2.25 to 4.29 and he lost all three decisions.

The Pirates also sent Yefry Ramirez to the minors, reinstated Richard Rodriguez from the paternity list and activated Brault from the injured list. Brault was the starting pitcher Tuesday.