Pirates Receiving Positive Feedback On Ke'Bryan Hayes
On the heels of arguably the best season of his career, things came crashing down for Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes in 2024.
Multiple back injuries limited Hayes to just 96 games last season, and even when the former Gold Glove winner was on the field, he struggled to play up to the level he was at in 2022 and 2023. With a whole offseason to recover, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said he's heard nothing but good news for Hayes thus far and noted the boost his team will receive if the star third baseman is fully healthy in 2025.
"I think it's mostly just feeling good physically. We saw last year just dealing with some physical stuff [and] some nagging stuff, that really limited how he was moving [and] how confident he was in moving. It seeped into different parts of his game," Cherington said on MLB Network at the Winter Meetings.
"We feel really good about what we're hearing from [Ke'Bryan] as we get into the offseason. [It's] expected he's gonna have a normal offseason. All the feedback we're getting from him has been really positive. When he's feeling good physically, he's an impact player at third base and he's really important to us," he continued.
Back injuries have plagued Hayes and landed him on the injured list in each of the last three seasons. He had a mid-back strain in 2022 and back inflammation in 2023 that limited him to just one game in July. He dealt with the same injury on two separate occasions last season.
Hayes' second stint on the IL for the injury was his last and he didn't play a game after Aug. 17.
Hayes, 27, played in just 96 games last season, posting a .233/.283/.290 slash line with 4 home runs and 25 RBIs and his 0.8 Wins Above Replacement was the lowest of his career. Those numbers were a far cry from his performance in 2023 when he had a 4.0 WAR and batted .271/.309/.453 with 15 home runs and 61 RBIs across 134 games. Hayes also won the National League Gold Glove at third base.
Hayes posted a 4.4 WAR in 2022, which is the best of his career. The Pirates third baseman slashed .244/.314/.345 with 7 home runs and 41 RBIs and he stole 20 bases.
If the Pirates are going to ascend in 2025, they're going to need Hayes to stay healthy for most of the season. Hayes returning to his form from 2022 and 2023 could prove to be Pittsburgh's biggest addition and be what it needs to snap the franchise's nine-year drought of missing the playoffs.
