First love: Now that Pirates 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes has a Gold Glove, focus turns to his hitting

Ke’Bryan Hayes finally has the hardware to prove he’s the best defensive player at his position in the National League, even if the Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman’s glove is missing its gold.

Hayes uses an old Wilson model, so he isn’t allowed to adorn it with the gold patch that Rawlings presents to winners of its Gold Glove Award despite ending the 10-year run of St. Louis Cardinals star Nolan Arenado last year.

“Having the patch would be real cool, but I’m not a flashy guy. I’m not one to try to show off and stuff,” said Hayes, who was presented the Gold Glove trophy in a ceremony before the home opener. “At the end of the day, that patch isn’t going to help you do anything on the field. That’s my biggest thing: try to make all the plays on the field.”

Although Hayes has three errors this season (two throwing), his defense remains his calling card. Whether it’s catching a pop fly over the dugout railing or making a spectacular diving stop to turn a 5-4-3 double play in the first inning against the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday, Hayes regularly shows why Pirates manager Derek Shelton calls him the best defender in baseball.

What the 27-year-old Hayes wants to prove is that he can be just as productive at the plate, even if his power numbers compared to Arenado or Atlanta’s Austin Riley makes him a long shot to win a Silver Slugger. Hayes knows his hitting is what separates him from becoming an All-Star.

Hayes calls hitting his first love, reminiscing about walking around with a bat as a kid and talking the fathers of his older brother’s teammates into pitching to him in the batting cage during their games.

“Hitting is my first love,” Hayes said. “Anyone that knows me, growing up my hitting was always ahead of my defense. I wouldn’t say far ahead because my defense was pretty good, but my hitting was right there.”

In a scorching start to the season that saw Hayes get two hits in each of the first four games, his bat was even better than his glove. Hayes has seven multi-hit performances through the first 14 games, batting .273 (15 for 55) entering Saturday’s game at Philadelphia.

After leading the team in batting average (.271) and triples (seven) and tying for the lead with 31 doubles last season, when he slashed .307/.334/.528 over his final 71 games, Hayes has become a fixture at the No. 3 spot behind Bryan Reynolds in the Pirates’ batting order.

“We’re trying to get Bryan and Ke’Bryan to the plate as much as possible,” Shelton said. “Any functioning offense, that’s how they’re gonna do it. You’re trying to get those guys to the plate.”

Hayes has adjusted his approach in an attempt to reduce his strikeouts and increase his on-base percentage. He leads the Pirates with nine walks — it took him 60 games to reach that mark last year — and is second with a .379 OBP this season. His walk rate is up from 5.3% last year to 14.8% this season and ranks in the 89th percentile, per Statcast.

“It’s trying to get back to keeping it real simple, just trying to stay behind the ball, be ready early and be aggressive early in the count. If it’s not there, I’ve got to be able to take those walks,” said Hayes, who drew two walks against the Phillies on Thursday. “So far this year, I feel like I’ve done a lot better with taking my walks. I feel great just being able to scratch a hit or take my walks and run the bases. I’ve got to be able to find ways to do that whenever you’re not feeling great at the plate.”

There are plenty of examples of how Hayes has helped Reynolds, who leads the Pirates with seven extra-base hits and 11 RBIs: On March 29 at Miami, Reynolds drew a leadoff walk in the third inning and scored on a Hayes double. Hayes had RBI singles in each of the next two games, an RBI double at Washington on April 1. Hayes followed a Reynolds double with an RBI single against the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday.

“I don’t know if it changes how I get pitched, but I’m sure it does,” Reynolds said. “I’m just trying to get on base for him because he’s been hot. I think he just feels healthy and feels good and confident. He’s always been a good hitter, so it’s good to see it.”

Hayes dealt with hand/wrist and hip/back issues the past two seasons, so staying healthy enough to be available to play on an everyday basis is of utmost importance to him. Hayes believes he’s capable of being the hitter he showed in his first month in the majors. He slashed .376/.442/.682 with seven doubles, two triples, five home runs and 11 RBIs in 24 games in September 2020 to earn NL rookie of the month.

After batting .271 with 15 homers and 61 RBIs last year despite missing all but one game in July, the idea that he can hit .300 with 20 home runs and 75 RBIs — or better — doesn’t seem unrealistic to Hayes.

“Really, I think the biggest thing is being available to play all year — I haven’t been available all year in any of my seasons — so if I’m able to do that from playing every day, I can reach a lot of those numbers,” Hayes said. “If I’m in the right spot mentally, physically, I believe I have the capability to do all three of those. Really, just being the three-hole hitter and being in the middle of the lineup, I need to be able to do that if we want to win.”