PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Ke'Bryan Hayes is doing some throwing, but still no hitting as he is now four weeks removed from his wrist injury.
Pirates GM Ben Cherington said Saturday Hayes is staying in shape so the transition back will be quicker when he can start swinging a bat. He believes Hayes will go with the team on the road trip that starts in San Diego on Monday.
"There continues to be progress every day," Cherington said. "We are encouraged by that. He's feeling improvement. We are hopeful there will be enough improvement soon where he can get the bat back in his hands and start a swing progression. That hasn't happened quite yet."
Cherington said based on the information they have from Dr. Thomas Graham, wrist specialist, and other doctors. They are still confident in improvement.
"In the original injury in Chicago," Cherington said. "He felt symptoms in two different places. It's now really localized in the wrist. So what he was feeling in his upper hand is gone. There are signs of healing based on the imaging."
"All of the doctors feel very confident that he is going to get past this with conservative care."
"We have to listen to what he is feeling. What we don't want to do is for him to ramp up even if he's feeling good enough and start to compensate in some way. Where it either affects another part of his body or affects his performance. It's just hard to hit major league pitching when you don't feel good or confident in your wrist and your hand."
So the slow process continues for the preseason favorite for NL Rookie of the Year.
"We're confident he is going to play a lot this year," Cherington said. "We all want him out there. No one wants to be out there more than he does."
