After injury-riddled rookie year, Pirates 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes healthy, 'ready to get rolling'

BRADENTON, Fla. — After ending the 2021 season in the same spot he spent the first two months — the injured list — Ke’Bryan Hayes spent the offseason taking care of the left hand and wrist that was a riddle to his rookie year.

Hayes played in only 96 games because of the sensation that caused discomfort when he gripped the bat. Now, the Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman enters spring training healthy and focused on a goal of being available for all 162 regular-season games this season.

After homering on Opening Day at Wrigley Field, Hayes felt a sensation shoot through his left wrist and into the palm of his hand in his first at-bat in the second game of the season and was placed on the 60-day IL. The injury bothered him again in late September.

“Definitely, that was a little bit of a roller coaster for me,” Hayes said Tuesday morning at LECOM Park. “I had to grind through it. That’s what I tried to do to the best of my ability. Going into the offseason, I really wanted to forget about it and make sure that going into the next season my body is healthy for spring training. I’m feeling good. The wrist is feeling good, so I’m ready to get rolling.”

After making his major league debut in September 2020, Hayes won the starting job at third base last spring by batting .431 with a 1.208 OPS, six doubles, two triples, two homers and nine RBIs in 17 Grapefruit League games. He slashed .257/.316/.373 with 20 doubles, two triples, six homers and 38 RBIs last season.

It was a solid season but nothing compared to his electric first month, when he batted .376 with a 1.124 OPS, five homers and 11 RBIs to win NL Rookie of the Month honors. That included a five-hit game, including three doubles, at Cleveland and a string of eight consecutive hits in his final three games of the 2020 season.

Even though the 25-year-old is locked into the Pirates’ starting lineup at third base, he wants to prove he can stay healthy enough to improve on those numbers and become a franchise cornerstone.

“The competitor in me, I’m still playing like I’m trying to make a team,” Hayes said. “I’m just being a little smarter with it now that I’ve been through it a couple times. I’m just really making sure my body is 100% whenever we leave spring training.”

Upon returning home to Houston last October, Hayes took a week away from baseball activities to allow his hand and wrist time to heal. He continued physical therapy treatments, getting soft-tissue massages and doing stretching exercises designed to strengthen his hand and wrist. Hayes didn’t start swinging a bat again until Thanksgiving, so he is excited about taking batting practice against live pitching.

“I didn’t hit live, so these next few days will be a better test for that,” Hayes said before taking BP. “But all of my hitting off machines this offseason, I didn’t have any setbacks. I just wanted to do the PT stuff for a good month, month-and-a-half. Once I started hitting, I didn’t have any problems.”

Hayes made a couple changes he hopes will help. He borrowed the barrel of a bat from his father, 14-year major league veteran Charlie Hayes, and a fungo knob from his brother. More important, he started using a two-hand finish on the follow-through of his swing.

“That knob and that two-hand finish on my follow through after I make contact has helped a lot,” Hayes said. “The two-hand is the main thing that’s helped me through this.”

Pirates manager Derek Shelton was pleased to finally watch Hayes hitting the ball again without any signs of trouble during batting practice at LECOM Park.

“It was good to see him swing live today,” Shelton said. “I think that was the most important thing. Throughout the winter, without having any contact, the only thing you could see was what was posted on social media. So to get him into camp and see him take live swings and to have a conversation with him, I definitely think it’s a little bit of a sigh of relief.”

For Hayes, this spring training is about a slow, steady progression leading into a season where he wants to be ready to play all 162.

“That’s my main goal, to be available every day in that lineup this year,” Hayes said. “I felt really great coming out of spring training then missed the first two months of the year. Once I can be in that lineup every day, I know things can take care of themselves.”