If only it could be June all the time, because if it was, the Pirates would have an All Star left fielder every single year.

Bryan Reynolds is on an absolute tear in the month of June so far this year. The 29-year old has racked up a 14-game hitting streak that poetically started with the very first day of June.

It cannot be understated that he has found a way to unlock this new offensive explosion while playing every single game this season. He is the only Bucco to appear in all 71 games to date, with a nearly double digit lead on his second place counterpart, Oneil Cruz.

Since June 1st, Reynolds has 20 hits in 59 at bats, including 5 doubles, a triple, 2 home runs, and 8 RBI for batting average of .339 and an OPS of .950.

He also has 6 multi-hit games this month so far.

But this is no anomaly for Bryan Reynolds, and so with him heating up at just the right time, I wanted to take a look at his career numbers in the month of June, where he has historically been by far the most dominant.

Over the course of his now six year major league career, June Bryan Reynolds is an entirely different player than any other month of the baseball calendar. And to he honest, it’s not even close. In June, Reynolds has a career .343 batting average with an OPS of .974. His batting average on balls in play is all the way up at .408.

The next closest month to that is August, where Reynolds is batting .282 with an OPS of .861. That’s still really good, but it gives you an idea of just how great he is when we’re in June. Here’s a full look on his month by month career splits:

But this isn’t a recent trend for Reynolds, it’s a characteristic of his entire major league career.

Reynolds made his major league debut in 2019, a year after he arrived in Pittsburgh’s organization via the Andrew McCutchen trade. In his rookie season, Reynolds batted .314 with an OPS of .880. That batting average continues to be his best mark over an entire season, so it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to see that he had a fantastic June during that season.

In 2019 Reynolds batted .369 with an OPS of .961. That month was narrowly beaten out by his April to start the year, which saw him bat .423 in his first taste of big league action. However, perhaps that has a bit of an asterisk next to it, considering Reynolds only played 8 games in April and had 24 in June that year.

Moving ahead to 2021 (there was no baseball in June of 2020), Reynolds kept up that narrative, when he batted .302 and had a .912 OPS in (to this date) his sole All Star campaign. In June, however, Reynolds exploded for a .376 average and 1.088 OPS.

Unlike his rookie year, this was far and away his best month of the season. September was the only month to see his batting average in the .300s, but it was a full .057 lower than June. This season also saw more home runs (7) and RBI (22) come in June than any other month.

In 2022, he did it once again. In a year where he batted .262 and had a .807 OPS, June still saw him go .333 at the plate and record an OPS of .989. No other month that season saw a batting average in the .300s or an OPS in the .900s. Like 2021, Reynolds also hit the most home runs and RBI of the season in that month. He smacked 8 home runs and brought in 19 that month.

Last season was the only year where we saw June Bryan Reynolds go into hiding. In a year that saw him bat .263 and record a .790 OPS, Reynolds only went .268 and had an OPS of .799 in June. Granted, he played less games last June than any other month, but his home runs and RBI total were actually both the lowest of any month that season.

June Bryan Reynolds was beat out by both April and August Bryan Reynolds, who went .320/.353/.573 and .288/.339/.559 respectively.

However, after a year of hibernation, Reynolds is back in action in June, plundering his opponents and becoming one of (if not the) most consistent hitter(s) on this team.

It’s one of the most fascinating career splits I’ve seen, to see a player be so consistently above and beyond what he normally is in one specific month. But he certainly doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of stopping, and the Pirates need to take advantage.

So far, they are 8-6 in June, and have an incredibly crucial three game home stand against an NL Central rival in the Cincinnati Reds. If Pittsburgh hopes to keep pace and potentially push for a playoff spot later in the year, a series like this is one you absolutely have to have.

The Pirates also can’t really afford to waste good batting performances from not only Reynolds, but also players like Nick Gonzales and the recently revived Rowdy Tellez.

For Reynolds in particular though, the Pirates need to start stacking wins now. June is Reynolds’ best month, but July is usually his worst.

Over his career, he has the worst numbers of any month in July. He bas just .232 with an OPS of .680 in July, and his numbers usually come crashing down after spectacular June numbers.

Maybe somebody within the Pirates organization should try and find a way to convince Bryan Reynolds that every month is June. I’m not sure how you would do that, but with career splits like these, it’s certainly worth a shot.

(Featured photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)