“My Biggest Critic For Me Is My Mom’ | Ke’Bryan Hayes’ Offensive Explosion Suggests He Doesn’t Want To Let Down A Mom Who Cuts Him No Slack

We all know how well Ke’Bryan Hayes plays third base. There’s no question that he’s one of the best infielders in the game today.

 

While he’s flashed his glove throughout his career, one area where he’s made a lot of improvement is at the plate, especially this season.

 

Ke’Bryan Hayes Has Been Red Hot This Month

 

The Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman has had an exceptional month at the plate so far. 

 

Last Friday, the Pirates put up 14 runs in a win against division foe, New York Mets. And Hayes put together a career performance that game going 5-for-5 at the plate with four RBI and a stolen base.

 

He put up video game numbers in that game tying his career-high in hits and RBI.

 

Through June 11, Hayes is hitting over .250 and slugging over .400.

His recent success at the plate comes after making an adjustment with his approach. If you watch Hayes at the plate, you’ll see that he went to a toe tap as he gets ready to go into his swing.

 

 

The Texas native knew he had to switch something up at the plate, especially after going 1-for-14 during a three-game series against Seattle at the end of May.

 

“I was like, ‘Something’s got to change. What I’m doing isn’t working,’“ Hayes said in an article from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. 

 

Pirates hitting coach Andy Haines wanted Hayes to incorporate the toe tap in his swing. And as we can see, it’s been paying off.

 

One thing Hayes is going to do is make an adjustment when needed and he’s going to put the work in continuously at it.

 

 

Whether it’s hitting off the tee, or taking batting practice, Hayes is going to make sure he is emphasizing whatever adjustment that is being made.

 

“Mindset-wise, I’m in that mindset of how I was in ’20, just going up there being free, having fun with it, being aggressive early in the count and being able to hit the fastball and hit the hanging off-speed,” Hayes said.

 

Ke’Bryan Hayes Is In A 2020 State Of Mind 

 

In 2020, Hayes burst on the scene during his MLB debut and his performance then was a big reason why the Pirates wanted to keep him around for a while. That year he hit .376 with five home runs and 11 RBI in 24 games.

 

We’re starting to see that 2020 version of Hayes at the plate and he wants to continue to be consistent at the plate.

 

 

This month, Hayes is hitting over .500 and he had an eight-game hitting streak that came to an end on June 9.

Mother Knows Best 

 

 

As the son of a former major leaguer (Charlie Hayes), Ke’Bryan’s journey is nothing new to his mom, who also knows a thing or two about baseball.

“My biggest critic for me is my mom,” Hayes said. “I don’t really look at all that. I know what type of player I am. I wasn’t happy with how I was playing on the offensive side the last year or two. I’ve been working my butt off to try to figure out how to get back to how I was having at-bats in ’20. Just trying to be aggressive up there, have my body in the right position and let athleticism take over.”

 

Hayes has all-star potential and this MLBbro can become one of the best players in the field and at the plate as he continues along his baseball journey.