PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – The injury or still his Gold Glove winning defense may still have dominated the narrative, but Pirates third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes started to establish himself offensively last season.
After 24 games his rookie season hitting .376 with 14 extra base hits, Hayes struggled much of 2021 and 2022 dealing with injuries and inconsistency-totaling 13 homers in 867 at bats. Hayes started to find it in June this past season, hitting .337, then after missing most of July with injury, the last two months were encouraging.
Hayes is coming off career highs in hits (134), doubles (31), triples (7), home runs (15), RBI (61). The 27-year-old hit .320 with six home runs and 20 RBI in August and hit .280 in September with nine doubles and four home runs.
"It felt really good, felt more free at the plate, more aggressive," Hayes said. "I felt like I was able to go up there and be an athlete and just hit. That's what I always done since I was little, I always loved to hit."
"I felt like I was back in that space of being an athlete, being a ballplayer and not thinking too much up there."
Hayes said there has been a lot of trail and error over the last couple of years. Not only with swings and stances, but dealing with his, at times, cranky back. He's found a good routine, hasn't had any issues in the offseason and said he can't wait to get down to Florida next week and get to work.
"I said this at the end of the year, if you go back to May," Hayes said. "We had a rough May and early June. If you switch a few, switch some of those games out with wins, we are right there in the Wild Card. I think it was five or six games. That is very encouraging."
Hayes said he noticed, even last year, that he felt he felt the direction of the organization had shifted. That now the Pirates 'are here to win'.
"We are not doing tryouts anymore," Hayes said. "We know what we can do, especially with how we started last year. Unfortunately, Cruz went down. He's a big part, it will be great to have him back. The little pieces we've added so far. I'm sure everyone is looking forward to getting back down there and getting back to work. I know I am."
