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After winning a 2024 Gold Glove Award for his stellar defense, Jared Triolo of the Pittsburgh Pirates has earned a spot on Bleacher Report's ranking of the Top 25 third basemen from the 2024 MLB season. Good for him; it's well deserved. But let's not let the accolade overshadow the fact that Triolo isn't even the Pirates' starting third baseman.
No, the Pirates' actual third baseman is Ke'Bryan Hayes, the 27-year-old with the bad back whom they awarded a $70 million contract in 2022, despite his injury history and lack of a proven track record on offense.
Two separate stints on the injured list limited Hayes to just 96 games during the 2024 season. His Gold Glove-winning defense from 2023 remained strong as ever, but his offense was subpar, likely a result of his ongoing back problems affecting his swing. Hayes slashed .233/.283/.290 this year with only 13 extra-base hits, including four home runs.
Triolo, in his first full MLB season, provided strong defense at third base (527.0 innings, 2 defensive runs saved) and second base (374.2 innings, 6 defensive runs saved) en route to a 1.3-WAR season and a Gold Glove Award as a utility player.
Latest third base rankings prove Pirates should shop Ke'Bryan Hayes in trade
Hayes has never taken off offensively the way the Pirates hoped he would (and paid him to), but in fairness, Triolo isn't exactly an offensive juggernaut, either. In 2024, he slashed .216/.296/.315 with nine home runs and 46 RBI. But Triolo also wasn't the third highest-paid player on the Pirates' roster last season; in fact, he was tied for the lowest.
Plus, a closer look at Triolo's offensive splits reveals that his hitting improved when he was in the lineup consistently as the Pirates' everyday third baseman. He appeared in a season-high 25 games during the month of September, when his .253 batting average was second only to his .294 average in March (in which he appeared in just four games).
At this point, Hayes' greatest value to the Pirates is as a trade chip, though he may have already done irreparable damage to his trade value by being injured all the time. The Pirates have a lot of hope (and money) invested in Hayes, but on the oft chance that a team comes calling about him this offseason, they should absolutely listen.
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