Pittsburgh Pirates: Opportunity is Knocking for Phillip Evans

With Ke’Bryan Hayes on the injured list, opportunity is now knocking with the Pittsburgh Pirates for career utility man Phillip Evans

Sunday morning fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates received disheartening news as third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes was placed on the 10-day injured list. Even though X-Rays in the wrist came back negative for Hayes, he still landed on the IL due to the inflammation in his wrist.

This season Hayes was expected to be the best player for the Pittsburgh Pirates. In fact, he entered the season as the odds on favorite to be named the National League Rookie of the Year and was expected to emerge as one of the best third basemen in baseball. He got his 2021 season off to a great start by hitting a 2-run home run and drawing a walk in the team’s Opening Day victory, but in the 1st inning of game two he was injured sending things south.

With Hayes on the shelf for at least 10 days this presents opportunity. It appears the player best positioned to seize this opportunity is career utility man Phillip Evans. Thus far, Evans has pounced on this opportunity.

With Hayes out of the lineup Evans got the start at third base on Sunday afternoon. While he committed a key error in the Pirate loss, Evans had a big day at the plate. The right-handed hitting Evans was 3-for-4, including a RBI. In his only other plate appearance on the young season Evans was hit by a pitch as a pinch-hitter last Thursday.

Last season Evans appeared ready to breakout. Through his first 45 PAs of the season Evans was hitting for a .359/.444/.487 slash line to go with an isolated slugging of .128 and a wRC+ of 158. Unfortunately, his season ended after just 11 games due to injuries suffered in a nasty collision with Gregory Polanco in shallow right field.

Throughout his minor league career Evans always hit well. However, when he finally earned an extended look with the New York Mets and he was hitting for a .303/.395/.364 slash line to go with a wRC+ of 114 through 38 PAs. However, he suffered an injury that cut his season short. Then in he 2019 season, he was at the Triple-A level with the Chicago Cubs blocked by the likes of Anthony Rizzo, Javy Baez and Kris Bryant.

With the Pittsburgh Pirates it now appears that Evans will get the opportunity to play every day, at least until Hayes returns. If Evans can continue to hit the way he did in the minors and the way he has in his brief MLB time, he will solidify himself as a legitimate MLB player who deserves regular at-bats.