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Pirates A to Z: With better bat, Gold Glove 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes becoming a complete player | TribLIVE.com
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Pirates A to Z: With better bat, Gold Glove 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes becoming a complete player

Kevin Gorman
Kevin Gorman
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Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review
Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes drives in a run with a sacrifice fly against the Tigers on Aug. 2.

During the offseason, the Tribune-Review will offer Pirates A to Z, an alphabetical, player-by-player look at the 40-man roster.

Player: Ke’Bryan Hayes

Position: Third Base

Bats: Right

Throws: Right

Age: 26

Height: 5-foot-11

Weight: 195 pounds

2023 MLB statistics: Batted .271/.309/.453 with 31 doubles, seven triples, 15 home runs and 61 RBIs in 124 games.

Contract: Signed to an eight-year, $70 million deal through 2030.

Acquired: Selected in the first round (No. 32 overall) of the 2015 MLB Draft.

This past season: Hayes entered the season hoping to prove that he could stay healthy enough to win his first NL Gold Glove and hit consistently enough to warrant the Pirates’ investment in him.

Hayes hadn’t been able to replicate the sizzling September 2020, when he made his major league debut and slashed .376/.442/.682 with seven doubles, two triples, five home runs and 11 RBIs in 24 games.

A thumb/wrist injury caused him to miss two months in 2021 — costing him a chance to win the Gold Glove, as he didn’t meet the Rawlings requirement for innings — and low-back inflammation disrupted his 2022 season. Hayes wanted to prove that he was an everyday player.

Where his defense at the hot corner remained elite, Hayes was batting only .221 by the end of May and looked lost at the plate. When he went 0 for 5 with four strikeouts on May 28 at Seattle and was 0 for 9 with seven strikeouts over two games, the Pirates gave him two days off.

That’s when Hayes added a toe tap to help the timing of his swing.

“I kind of got to a point mentally where I was trying to get back to that 2020, just trying to mirror that so bad,” Hayes said. “As you get older, your body’s going to change. I had the back thing, the wrist thing, so maybe I’m not able to get back to that same setup, same type of thing. I went all in with the toe tap, and, so far, it’s worked for me.

“Just being able to sink, loading my hands and timing that toe tap, that was really the big thing for me. Now I just feel comfortable with it. Now, it’s just go up there, be aggressive and hit.”

The adjustment worked wonders. When he hit a two-run home run on May 31 at San Francisco, it marked the start of a tear. Hayes hit .476 (20 for 42) with three doubles, two triples, two home runs and 11 RBIs as the Pirates won seven times in a 10-game span. That included a 421-foot, three-run shot to spark a six-run seventh inning rally in a 7-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on June 2 and a 5-for-5, 4-RBI performance against the New York Mets on June 9.

“The toe tap has been, obviously, something very productive for him,” Pirates hitting coach Andy Haines said, “but if you look at who he is at his best, I see a guy who could lead the league in doubles and really be a hitter.”

It was Hayes’ best stretch at the plate since the final eight games of September 2020, when he batted .516 (16 for 31) with three doubles, two triples, two homers, 11 RBIs and a 1.494 OPS to clinch NL Rookie of the Month honors.

“I’m in that mindset of how I was in ’20,” Hayes said, “just going up there being free, just having fun with it, being aggressive early in the count and being able to hit the fastball and hit the hanging off-speed.”

Hayes batted .337 with three homers and 13 RBIs in June, only for his low back to start bothering him again. He missed all but one game in July, spending a pair of stints on the 10-day injured list.

“There’s still been days where it wasn’t pretty,” Hayes said. “Just had to fight through it some days. But for the most part, we kind of figured out on those days where I don’t feel the best, what can get me to 80-85% for the day. It’s just a lot of work, not even gonna lie. It’s a lot of work. It’s what I love to do. You’ve just got to accept those challenges.”

In his absence, rookie Jared Triolo filled in admirably. Despite missing a month, Hayes returned to produce the best month of his career, batting .320/.368/.588 with six doubles, six homers and 20 RBIs in August. He followed by batting .280 with nine doubles, four homers and nine RBI in the final month of the season.

Hayes, who led all qualified Pirates hitters in batting (.271) and triples (seven) and was tied for the team lead in doubles (31), was voted the winner of the Roberto Clemente Award as the team MVP by the Pittsburgh chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton applauded the choice, crediting Hayes for becoming the player the team envisioned when it made him one of the franchise cornerstones with a record contract in April 2022.

“I think we saw a healthy Ke’Bryan Hayes for an extended period of time,” Shelton said. “I know we keep saying that, but the ability to drive the ball, the ability to have consistent at-bats. Defensively, it’s well-documented how I feel about him. But, I think we’re seeing the complete player, the guy that can do so many things, that can impact the game in so many different ways. But, I just think the fact that he’s healthy.”

Hayes also was named the Fielding Bible’s defensive player of the year after leading all MLB third baseman with 21 defensive runs saved and a .972 fielding percentage while committing only six errors. He won his first NL Gold Glove and is a candidate for the Platinum Glove, awarded to the best defendsive player in each league.

But Hayes seemed most proud of how he hit, especially in the summer, that showed he can be a complete player for the Pirates.

“Yeah, June and August, that’s the type of player I want to be,” Hayes said. “I want to be able to do it for a whole season. Just figuring out, those two months, the type of stuff I was doing. Just kind of analyze the at-bats, what kind of pitches I’m swinging at, taking your walks, and then just playing baseball. But those months, what I would like to envision being able to do for a whole season.”

The future: Hayes is about to become one of baseball’s best bargains. After earning $10 million each of the past two seasons, he will make $7 million in 2024.

That’s a steal for arguably the best defender in the game, especially after producing 4 WAR last season. Per FanGraphs, 1 WAR is valued at $4 million.

There’s still room for improvement. Where Hayes ranked in the 93rd percentile in average exit velocity (92.2 mph), per Statcast, his walk rate (5.3%) was only in the 10th percentile. Hayes ranked sixth on the Pirates with 28 walks — he didn’t have any in June — and his 10 stolen bases ranked fifth on the team, one behind the aging Andrew McCutchen.

When Hayes hit, the Pirates won. He batted .335 in 56 wins but only .217 in 68 losses. And he hit far better at PNC Park (.316/.349/.551) than he did on the road (.231/.272/.365). So he must become a more consistent hitter, if the Pirates are going to improve upon a 76-win season and fourth-place finish in the NL Central.

But Hayes showed that he can become a centerpiece of their lineup, and the return of a healthy Oneil Cruz could be beneficial. Hayes batted .266/.333/.495 with eight homers and 18 RBIs in 45 games at the leadoff spot but hit .303/.323/.472 with 17 RBIs in 22 games.

Hayes appeared most comfortable hitting behind Bryan Reynolds in the No. 3 spot in the batting order, especially after McCutchen suffered a season-ending Achilles injury. Over his final 21 games, Hayes slashed .289/.309/.489 with nine doubles, three homers and eight RBIs.

If the Pirates get a healthy Hayes who hits all season like he did in June and August, it could be one of the keys to their success.

Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.

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