Pirates 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes takes swings in cage, 'looking to be in there' for Mets series

After missing two games with left shoulder soreness, Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes said he expects to return to the lineup Monday for the New York Mets series.

“I’m looking to be in there tomorrow, whether it be DH or in the field,” Hayes said following the 4-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays Sunday at PNC Park. “I’m feeling a little better. Some of the soreness is still there. That’s going to take a couple days to go away anyhow.”

Hayes injured his left shoulder while attempting to make a diving play on Matt Chapman’s grounder down the third base line in the fourth inning of Friday’s game. Hayes was removed following his at-bat in the bottom of the fourth, a groundout to first base.

“I looked at the video and whenever I dove and tried to catch myself, it just got jammed,” Hayes said. “But waking up (Sunday) I felt a little better, just moving around.”

Rodolfo Castro started the past two games at third base, going 1 for 7 with six strikeouts, a single and a walk. He also committed a throwing error Sunday against the Blue Jays that led to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. scoring a run in the third inning.

Hayes, who was on the 10-day injured list from Aug. 16-23 with a mid-back muscle strain, has started 106 games at third base this season, the most by any Pirates position player. He has played in 112 games, which ranks second on the Pirates behind center fielder Bryan Reynolds.

Hayes said the pain was on the outside of his left shoulder, which bothered him the past two days. But he took two-handed swings in the batting cage during Sunday’s game and felt improvement.

“It felt like this was super loose,” Hayes said, rotating the shoulder. “I could feel that. I hit and felt pretty good, kind of felt better finishing with two hands, which is what I want to do anyway. … I didn’t feel anything at all. I’ll probably stay away from sliding head-first.”

Pirates manager Derek Shelton called Hayes spending the game in the batting cage “an encouraging sign.”

“He was significantly better,” Shelton said, “so we’ll be able to see (Monday) where he’s at.”

The Pirates made a pair of roster moves after Sunday’s game, claiming right-handed pitcher Peter Solomon off waivers from the Houston Astros and optioning him to Triple-A Indianapolis.

Solomon, who was Houston’s No. 28 prospect per MLB Pipeline, was designated for assignment on Sept. 1. The 6-foot-4, 211-pounder, a fourth-round draft pick out of Notre Dame in 2017, was 8-6 with a 5.20 ERA and 1.45 WHIP in 97 innings over 23 appearances (18 starts) for Triple-A Sugar Land but allowed 17 home runs.

To make room on the 40-man roster, RHP Colin Holderman (right shoulder soreness) was transferred to the 60-day IL.