Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes was not the National League Rookie of the Year. He had to settle for Rookie of the Month after a September call-up. But make no mistake, Hayes was the NL’s best rookie.
The former first round pick, who had shown flashes the last couple of spring trainings, burst out of the Altoona bubble with 5 home runs, 7 doubles and 11 RBI in 24 games. He hit .376 with a .682 slugging percentage and an OPS of 1.124.
So what can Hayes do for an encore? Apparently, just keep on grinding.
“Just continue to work on the things I was working on last year,” Hayes says, “trying not to put any extra pressure on me, just go out there and play the way I normally play. All I can really control is putting good at bats and try to square the ball up and on defense try to make every play for my team.”
Defense won’t be a problem since Hayes is already considered to be the NL’s second-best fielding third baseman this side of Nolan Arenado who has won the last 8 Gold Gloves. But pitchers have probably already begun to look for ways to pitch to him. Hayes says he will keep it simple.
“I continue to work on things that help me hit the ball hard and hit the ball hard consistently. Yeah, pitchers are going to make adjustments and that’s when I’m going to have to make adjustments. It’s kind of like a cat and mouse game with pitchers and hitters.
It may be awhile before that cat and mouse game really begins since, as Hayes points out, the Pirates don’t play any divisional opponents in the spring.
While there is always the danger of the dreaded “sophomore slump” (witness Brian Reynolds last season), manager Derek Shelton believes Hayes has the mindset to avoid that pitfall. “The one really special thing about him – well, there are a lot of things of special things about Ke,” Shelton says, “but the thing that really stands out is that his awareness is really good; he’s a very good self-evaluator.”
“I think it’s just a matter of maintaining his hitting zone,” the manager continues. “When guys scuffle it’s usually because they get out of their zones and try to do too much. That will be something we’ll monitor with him; just to make he stays within his own zones.”
Not that Hayes will need that much help, but sage advice is readily available.
Hayes’ locker mate at Pirate City is veteran Todd Frazier.
Not sure if he scored any points with his introduction, though. “I just told him ‘I’ve been watching you since I was a little kid and stuff like that.’” Luckily, Hayes says Frazier laughed it off, maybe because at least he didn’t say something like “didn’t you play with my dad?”
Speaking of which, Ke’Bryan says his father, Charlie, is no longer coaching in the Phillies organization but “is going to follow me around.” Fortunately, that doesn’t mean the former big leaguer (and World Series winner) is going to be an annoying, obtrusive parent.
“My dad doesn’t too much say anything to me,” Hayes says.
“When I’m home he’ll throw to me when I want him to but he kind of stays out of the way. Every now and then I’ll ask him ‘what do you see, what do you got?’ he’ll say something but he literally doesn’t say anything to me about baseball
“My mom’s the hard one on me,” Hayes laughs.
Oh, if Mrs. Hayes is still upset that Ke’Bryan was not named Rookie of the Year, he is still rookie eligible in 2021 and now is the favorite. Not that the pressure will bother him.