'That's his baby': With love for an old glove, Pirates 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes goes for Gold

Ke’Bryan Hayes smiled as he slipped the 11¾-inch Wilson 1787 model infielder’s glove onto his left hand, squeezing it softly to show as if it’s a natural extension of his arm.

The Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman has worn the same glove since 2016, so long that it’s difficult to ascertain its original color and makes for a patchwork appearance. It could be that the leather has faded from black to brown. Or that the new pocket web added before this past season is simply a different color than its dirt-brushed back.

In an era where major leaguers wear custom signature gloves, Hayes swears by one that looks like a battered hand-me-down.

“I joke all the time: It looks like the gloves, if you go to museums, something that’s sitting in there,” Hayes said. “Maybe one day it will be in one.”

If the long-awaited announcement comes Sunday night on MLB Network that Hayes is the Rawlings National League Gold Glove winner for his spectacular defense — an honor Pirates manager Derek Shelton called “the biggest no-brainer of all time” — it will come with an ironic twist: The player with the best glove in baseball might own the worst glove in baseball.

Hayes wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I understand wanting stuff looking good, this or that, but for me, the way I look at it, I have a job to do,” Hayes said. “I catch everything. I feel comfortable with this one. … For me, if I feel good, that’s the biggest thing. I’m not really the flashiest person. As long as I’m comfortable — uniform, bat, glove, whatever — I’m ready to play. I’m going to ride with it until it won’t ride anymore.”

Pirates 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes talks about his affinity for his tattered Wilson glove, which he’s used since High-A. pic.twitter.com/7RZRyx0JV0

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) November 3, 2023

Related Ke’Bryan Hayes stories:

• Cardinals 3B Nolan Arenado edges Pirates’ Ke’Bryan Hayes for 10th NL Gold Glove
• Now a finalist, Ke’Bryan Hayes has a chance to become 1st Pirates 3B to win NL Gold Glove
• Good as gold? Pirates spoiled by 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes making spectacular plays

Hayes got the Wilson glove in 2016 and wore it the following year while playing in High-A for Bradenton. He won his first Rawlings minor league Gold Glove in 2017, then won two more while wearing it. So Hayes, putting comfort first, kept it as his game glove when he made his major-league debut for the Pirates in September 2020.

“I just always wanted to stick with this one,” Hayes said. “I would get new gloves every spring but, I don’t know, this one’s so broken in and perfect to my hand.”

That almost happened. Pirates bench coach Don Kelly and assistant athletic trainer Tony Leo have been his glove doctors, repairing the old mitt when it needs new stitching or the pocket started to fall apart. Hayes has backup gloves that he wears for infield practice to break them in, using the Wilson 1787 model only for games.

“It’s kind of like an old hat, I guess, where you just put it on and it knows where to go,” said Kelly, who spent nine seasons in the major leagues as an infielder with the Pirates, Detroit Tigers and Miami Marlins. “That’s his baby, man. It goes in there, and it sticks. He’s re-tightened it and redone everything. When it goes on and it fits like it does for him, you do not mess with it.”

Hayes had the pocket web replaced before this season, only to find it to feel stiff and strange just before the start of spring training. That put him in a panic until he broke it in during workouts at Pirate City and Grapefruit League games. His Pirates teammates marvel at how Hayes wears a glove that is tattered and torn but performs at an elite level.

“It’s not the bow and arrow; it’s the Indian,” said former Pirates infielder Mark Mathias, a locker mate of Hayes. “One hundred percent. He could go out there with any glove and make a play.”

The numbers back up that statement. In 374 games over four seasons, Hayes has committed 22 errors, an average of one per every 17 games. Of those, only 10 were fielding errors while 12 came on throws. What separates Hayes from others is his flair for making the spectacular look routine, how easily he barehands a slow roller down the line and makes an off-balance throw or backhands a bouncer and turns a double play.

Ke'Bryan Hayes' defense is just so smooth pic.twitter.com/IcwDqBbnSh

— Platinum Ke’Bryan (@PlatinumKey13) August 21, 2023

“I guess if you’ve got hands like his, you can do whatever. It doesn’t matter what (glove) he’s using. He’s going to be Ke’ out there,” Pirates left fielder Bryan Reynolds said. “He gets to everything and always throws it right on the dime. If it gets past him, it’s just a fair hit. That’s a hit. If he can get there, he’s going to get there. If he can’t, nobody can. He led the league in defensive runs saved last year and still got screwed out of a Gold Glove.”

Reynolds was referring to Rawlings awarding a 10th consecutive NL Gold Glove last year to St. Louis Cardinals star Nolan Arenado — who tied Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt for the most by an NL third baseman — despite Hayes having superior statistics. No Pirates third baseman has ever won a Gold Glove since its creation in 1957.

Hayes led all MLB players last season with 24 defensive runs saved, but his national reputation took a hit over an in-game incident. Hayes endured public backlash when SNY analyst Todd Zeile — a former major-league third baseman — pointed out that Hayes took off his glove and pulled sunflower seeds out of his back pocket during play in a mid-September game against the New York Mets.

A year earlier, Hayes had only three errors in 95 games but missed most of the first two months with a hand/wrist injury and didn’t play enough innings to qualify for Gold Glove consideration under Rawlings requirements. Per rules designed to ensure that only full-time players are considered, infielders and outfielders must play 698 innings (67%) through the first 138 games to be eligible.

A couple of hits and some great defense. Just another day at the office for Ke'Bryan Hayes. pic.twitter.com/6la9GfcN1g

— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) April 10, 2022

Hayes was in jeopardy of falling short of that mark this past summer, when he missed all but one game in July with low back inflammation. But he recovered to finish the season strong, committing only three errors in 153 chances over the final 47 games from Aug. 2 to Sept. 30.

“When you have someone who’s good defensively, that’s one thing that doesn’t slump,” said Pirates designated hitter Andrew McCutchen, an NL Gold Glove winner in center field for the Pirates in 2012. “Our bats may go in and out. We may have good and bad days, but the one thing that doesn’t slump is how you play defense. He doesn’t take a play off.

“We’re confident with the ball being hit over there, more times than not the play is going to be an out. He plays Gold Glove-caliber defense. I feel like if he continues working the way that he does, he’s going to have a lot of Gold Glove plaques in his house one day. It’s nice to have someone like that because it’s not something you see every day. It’s why we rave about Arenado so much.”

Arenado’s streak ended when he wasn’t named a finalist this year. Instead, Hayes is joined by Colorado’s Ryan McMahon and Atlanta’s Austin Riley. Hayes had six errors and led all MLB third baseman with defensive runs saved (21) and outs above average (17). By comparison, McMahon had 12 errors, a 17 defensive runs saved and 11 outs above average while Riley had 11 errors, nine defensive runs saved and zero outs above average.

Finalist Ke’Bryan Hayes discusses what it would to win an NL Gold Glove Award, something no Pirates 3B has ever done. pic.twitter.com/foHWZY8qVE

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) November 3, 2023

Hayes already won the Fielding Bible defensive player of the year, presented by SportsInfo Solutions, and makes no secret he would love to add his first Gold Glove to his trophy collection.

“I’m not the biggest single awards guy or whatever, but it would mean a lot just because I take a lot of pride in all facets of my game: Defense, baserunning, the mental side of the game, hitting, all that type of stuff,” said Hayes, who credits his father, 14-year MLB veteran Charlie, and older brother Tyree, a former minor league pitcher, for pushing him.

“That’s how you win championships. It’s how it keeps you on the field, if you’re able to play defense. I used to fight back and forth with it. I think sometimes even when I was younger I would get away with stuff, maybe having good hands or this or that, but they would always get onto me, saying, ‘At the next level, that’s not gonna work. Those balls are going to be hit harder, this or that.’ Just to think how far I’ve come athletically from when I was little, it would mean a lot because I really take pride in my defense. I try to not take any plays off. Even whenever in practice, I try to take it game-like. That way in the game, it’s kind of second nature. I just react and go off my instincts.”

And his trust in a glove that looks like it belongs in bronze.

“He’s a throwback, man, just the way he goes about it,” said Kelly, the Pirates bench coach. “That glove, it fits. I don’t think there’s any arguing how good he is. Hopefully, he gets the credit that he’s due and it turns into a Gold Glove.”