PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Ke'Bryan Hayes became a late factor for NL Rookie of the Year in 2020 despite playing just a month in the majors. Just over a week into exhibition games, Hayes has continued that roll.
"I feel really good up there right now," Hayes said Tuesday. "Seeing the ball well, being aggressive. All of the things I was doing last year."
Last year, the third baseman hit .376 in 24 games with 5 home runs and 11 RBI.
"Just continuing to work on the things I work on day-in and day-out with my routine," Hayes said. "Getting ready for the game and doing homework on pitchers before the games to make sure I have a plan whenever I get up there."
Hayes is hitting .500 through five Spring Training games with 4 doubles and a triple as part of 7 hits. He's done it exclusively batting second.
"I don't really know," Hayes replied when asked if he expects to hit second Opening Day. "The first couple of years I've batted third, fifth, mostly third. When I dropped the weight, they moved me to second and I kind of hit there the rest of my time in the minors. I just I am comfortable there."
The 24-year-old batted second in half of the games in 2020. He hit .442 with 3 homers and a .767 slugging percentage and 1.278 OPS.
It wasn't always that way, Hayes hit just .261 his last full year in AAA and it was his glove that got him to the majors. Now Hayes tries to keep that offensive roll by doing the same thing in the cage, day-after-day.
"For the most part keep it pretty simple," Hayes said. "Just try to focus on staying on my backside and hit the ball hard up the middle, squaring it up. Then I will be able to stay on the heater, catch it up front and be able to hit off-speed as well. That has really helped me in the last year or two."
The son of major leaguer Charlie Hayes has made it look simple so far. And he just tries to keep his mind clear as much as possible.
"Hitting is one of the hardest things on earth," Hayes said. "If you are trying to think about a million things whenever you are hitting. It is just not going to work. You have to find a routine that you are comfortable with and try to simplify as best you can."
Simple is better, especially right now for Hayes.
