BRADENTON, Fla.(TNS) — Playing right field at PNC Park can be an adventure. Not only is Bryan Reynolds ready for the ride, but the two-time All-Star outfielder is motivated to dispel defensive doubts and prove everyone wrong.

Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton revealed the plan to move Reynolds to right field this spring to “take advantage of his full skillset,” marking the third position switch for Reynolds in seven seasons.

Reynolds is receptive to the challenge of playing in front of the 21-foot Clemente Wall, with its combination of chain-link fence and concrete wall that can cause bad bounces that make right fielders look ridiculous.

“I’m open to the idea, for sure,” said Reynolds, who played 22 games in right and 118 in left last year. “I just played a few games there last year, so it’s not like I got comfortable there. I have to learn how to play the wall, learn how the balls are going to come differently to me than left obviously.”

It’s the next step for Reynolds to prove that he belongs in the conversation about baseball’s best outfielders. Although MLB Network ranked him the No. 10 left fielder right now, Reynolds is nowhere to be found on its top 100 players list.

It’s a slight that stunned Shelton.

“That’s interesting,” said Shelton, who noted that Reynolds finished fifth in the National League in hits (171) last year. “You can’t take that lightly. He’s in my top 100. That’s a little surprising to me.”

Reynolds reacted to the ranking snub with a shrug.

“They can do whatever they want. They’ve never been kind to me, so that’s fine,” he said of MLB Network. “It definitely is annoying, but it’s not like it’s going to keep me up at night. Just bad beds. That’s it.”

Reynolds has provided some restless nights for opposing pitchers. He had the longest hit streak in the major leagues last season — and longest by a Pirates player since 2003 — by recording at least one in 25 consecutive games from June 1-29. Reynolds recorded his fourth consecutive season with 24 or more home runs, topped 80 RBIs for the third time in his career and his .344 on-base percentage tied for 14th.

Reynolds knows he’s capable of more, if he can show consistency over the entirety of the summer. He’s one of the most durable Pirates, playing in 91.3% of games (794 of 870), but is still seeking his first season with 30 home runs and 100 RBIs. Reynolds wants to earn the respect he thinks he deserves.

“That’s what I’m going to shoot for,” Reynolds said. “I’ve done it in the past where I’ve had really, really good months. It’s just about finding a way to extending those times, and that’ll turn into a really, really good season.”

Where Reynolds has been productive at the plate, his defense has declined the past two seasons. He had minus-5 defensive runs in left field and minus-3 in center last year, per FanGraphs; his minus-13 outs above average ranked in the lowest percentile, per Statcast.

But Shelton believes Reynolds’ arm will play in right field, despite an arm value that ranks in the 32nd percentile by Statcast. Reynolds recorded 11 outfield assists last season, tied for second in the majors.

“Apparently, my arm sucks, based on metrics. Apparently, I have a below-average arm,” Reynolds deadpanned. “I think I’ve got a good arm. I think that playing right field is setting me up for more assists.”

Reynolds has played 371 games in left field and 324 in center but only 53 in right for the Pirates. The Pirates wanted to switch Reynolds to right last spring, and he started 16 games there until mid-May before moving back to left field for the remainder of the season.

Reynolds worked occasionally with Tarrik Brock, who coaches outfielders, to get familiar with how the ball plays off the Clemente Wall. It features the out-of-town video scoreboard at the bottom in addition to a chain link fence and concrete that can make for ridiculous ricochets.

“That’s the one question we have for anybody that goes over there,” Shelton said. “One of the things I really like about the way Bryan plays the outfield is there’s never any panic. That wall can cause you some panic, No. 1, because of the height but No. 2, because it’s chain link and, at times, gives you really weird caroms. The other thing is because it gives you that weird carom and deadens at times, the work he’s done on his arm is going to help us there because if it dies and goes straight down, the work that he did last winter shows that he has the arm strength to be able to make that throw.”

For a player who signed a franchise-record, eight-year, $106.75 million contract extension in April 2023, Reynolds hasn’t shown any resistance to playing wherever the Pirates need him to play in the outfield. He even took grounders and did bag work at first base, in preparation for a possible position switch to the infield.

“I think it just shows how much of a team player he is,” Shelton said. “He’s our highest-paid player. He’s our best player. Anytime we go at him with something, he’s willing to do it. He wants to know the why — and he should know the why. It’s not a blanket, ‘Hey, we’re going to do this.’ It’s never a conversation like that. It’s a conversation like, ‘This is what we’re thinking. This is what we’re going to do.’ All he wants to do is help us win games.”