Pittsburgh Pirates: Ke’Bryan Hayes Named Top Preforming Prospects

Spring Training is off to a hot start for Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes

Ke’Bryan Hayes has consistently been getting praises throughout his young career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, hence why he is considered one of the front runners for National League Rookie of the Year this season. His performance in his 2021 Spring Training debut was no different.

After his first game of the year, MLB Pipeline named Hayes as one of the top preforming prospects for opening day of Spring Training. Hayes started the game against the Orioles at third base and was in the two-hole in the lineup.

In this game Hayes was able to come up to the plate three times, before being subbed out for Kevin Kramer. In the first of his three plate appearances, Hayes showed off his plate discipline by watching the right hander Thomas Eshelman throw six pitches for a 4-2 walk.

Hayes was able to come around to score later on in the first inning  when Trey Mancini was charged with a throwing error during a fielder’s choice that Gregory Polanco hit into. Hayes second plate appearance came during the second inning with the bases loaded.

This at bat was a confusing one as the umpires kept changing their mind as to if the weak grounder stayed fair or if it went foul and was messed with by the Orioles catcher Pedro Severino. The ultimate verdict ended up being that Hayes was out but all of the base runners were safe on the original bases that they started on.

The last at bat for the day for Hayes was in the fourth inning. This was by far his best at bat of the day.  This at bat came against lefty Josh Rogers, and a runner, Kevin Newman, on first. Hayes ripped a pitch off of the base of the center field wall that resulted in a RBI double as Newman scored, but Hayes was able to advance to third after Cedric Mullins had a throwing error on the play.

This game shows that Hayes is looking to keep his momentum going from his excellent debut season last year. If he can keep playing up to a high level like this, Hayes will have no problem in taking home the Rookie of the Year award.