Ke’Bryan Hayes Is Still Mastering The Art of Mash | The Gold Glover Still Searching For Identity As Hitter

Ke’Bryan Hayes Is Still Mastering The Art of Mash | The Gold Glover Still Searching For Identity As Hitter

Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes came into the 2024 season looking to build on his previous season where he hit .271 and a career-high 15 home runs.

 

It looked as though Hayes was going to take that next step as a hitter after watching his performance last year.

 

#HIGHFIVE | Return Of The Greene Machine, T.A. Is A Closer, Ke’Bryan Hayes Has Arrived

 

But this season it seems as if Hayes is at a standstill and hasn’t quite yet found his groove.

 

Through 33 games this season, he’s hitting .248 with one home run and 11 RBI. One thing to note is that during this time last season, Hayes also had only had one home run. So we can assume, and the Pirates can hope he is just a slow starter. 

 

Hayes has been known for his exceptional skill set at third base. 

 

MLBbro Ke’Bryan Hayes Is A National League Gold Glove Finalist At Third Base | Flashing Leather Is What He Does

 

The 27-year-old is one of the best defenders in the league and already has a Gold Glove Award to show for.

 

Ke’Bryan Hayes Ready To Take Next Step As Hitter

 

One area that Hayes wants to continue to improve on is his performance at the plate. The consistency is something that he wants to add to his game on the offensive side. Hayes started the season real strong at the plate, hitting .325 through his first 10 games. His team’s success reflected his elevated batting as they were in first place for a minute early in the season. 

 

 

He had a five-game hitting streak and had multi-hit games in the first four games of the seasons. During the month of April, he hit .239 and so far, he’s hitting under .120 during May.

 

One area Hayes believes he can improve on at the plate is his aggressiveness, and he also alluded to that after one of the team’s performances recently.

 

“There’s times where we could have been more aggressive,” he said. “But we’re a team, we work the counts pretty well. Just sometimes, we got to be able to figure out when we’re doing that, you got to figure out how to manufacture some runs. So I mean, it’s still early, it’s still April. But with a guy like that, you got to figure out whenever he’s walking guys, making him throw a lot of pitches, got to figure out how to get him out of there.”

 

It is still very early in the season like Hayes said, which means there will be time for adjustments to be made and for Hayes, hopefully it happens sooner rather than later.

 

Ke’Bryan Hayes Still Dealing With Nagging Injuries

 

Hayes also dealt with a minor injury back in April too, so that may have played a factor in his performance at the plate. He was scratched from the lineup on April 16, hours before the game due to lower back tightness. Even though it wasn’t something major, all precautions need to be taken and the Pirates certainly don’t want to have Hayes miss significant time.

 

“It just kinda locked up on him a little bit,” manager Derek Shelton said. “We tried to work on him and we couldn’t really get it to release. Just out of the abundance of caution, we’re just gonna make sure to keep him down.”

 

Hayes will look to turn things around at the plate and also look to be more aggressive in the batter’s box as well.

 

Ke’Bryan Hayes’ Bat Has Finally Caught Up To His Glove | Pirates Franchise Player Is Crushing The Game

 

As the season progresses, we’ll see if Hayes can put up similar numbers to last season. Or even better. 

#HIGHFIVE | These MLBBros Came Out The Gate Running It Up To Open 2024 Season

#HIGHFIVE | These MLBBros Came Out The Gate Running It Up To Open 2024 Season

Mookie Betts was in a class of his own during Opening Week, picking up right where he left off from the 2023 season that saw him finish second in the race for National League MVP.  The most versatile player in the Majors earns the top spot on the inaugural 2024 #HighFive List.

1. Mookie Betts

Betts, who recorded career hit number 1,500 via a home run off of Logan Webb Tuesday night, is off to the best start of his career as he currently leads the Majors in nearly every single offensive category through the first week.

The lights shine brighter in Los Angeles, and this season the expectations have never been higher for a Dodger team that went on a spending spree this off-season after a disappointing playoff run; headlined by their acquisition of Shohei Ohtani.

What makes Betts’ offensive output even more impressive is the fact that he is doing it while being asked to play shortstop for the first time in his career.

More Milestones For Mookie Betts: LA Dodgers Star Shortstop Reaches 1,500 Hit Milestone

The law of averages will at some point bring Betts down a little closer to Earth, but I believe he is prime to join the rare company of players that have won an MVP award in both Leagues.

 

2. Marcus “Stro Show” Stroman

The New York native looked sharp in his Yankee debut last weekend throwing six innings and allowing no earned runs off four hits with four strikeouts in a win in Houston over a tough Astros lineup.

 

 

Stroman, who signed a two-year $37 million deal over the off-season will make his home debut in the Bronx Friday night when their American League East rival Blue Jays visit for a weekend series.

 

3. Trey Lipscomb

DMV native Trey “Tha Truth” Lipscomb left his mark on the Washington Nationals front office and management during Spring Training as he hit .400 with a .900 OPS, seven RBI and a .540 slugging percentage.

 

After an injury gave him the opportunity to be promoted to the Majors, Lipscomb has made the most of his time through his first week, slashing .357/.400/.571 through 14 at-bats. Lipscomb hit his first career home run last Sunday; an opposite field shot to right off Reds reliever Buck Farmer to break a 3-3 tie in the seventh.

This weekend, he will look to continue his early success when the Phillies visit Nationals Park.

 

4. Ke’Bryan Hayes

 

Pittsburgh is off to one of their best starts in franchise history and 2023 National League Gold Glove third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes has been a major contributor to the success of the Buccos.

Hayes started the season with four consecutive multi-hits games, becoming the first Pirate to accomplish that feat since the legendary Barry Bonds did it in 1988.

 

MLBbro Trio Pushes The Pitt Back To The Top With 5-0 Start | Cutch, Ke’Bryan Hayes and Michael A. Taylor Balling

 

Alongside former National League MVP Andrew McCutchen and 2019 World Series hero Michael A. Taylor, Hayes has the Steel City buzzing with the hopes of obtaining the N.L. Central Pennant for the first time in franchise history.

He has both scored and driven in five runs while posting a .333 batting average and an .868 OPS.

 

5. Josh Naylor

In 2023 Josh Naylor was one of the most consistent players offensively in the Majors and that has carried through the first week of 2024. Naylor, who drove in a season-high three runs thanks to two sacrifice flies and a groundout Wednesday against the Mariners, is hitting .318 with a .915 OPS and five RBI.

Last season Naylor collected a career-high 97 RBI.  With a better Guardian offense expected around him this season, including a full year for his brother, catcher Bo Naylor on the roster, “The Impaler” will hit the coveted 100 RBI mark and possibly finish with close to 30 homers.

 

 

MLBbro Trio Pushes The Pitt Back To The Top With 5-0 Start | Cutch, Ke’Bryan Hayes and Michael A. Taylor Balling

MLBbro Trio Pushes The Pitt Back To The Top With 5-0 Start | Cutch, Ke’Bryan Hayes and Michael A. Taylor Balling

With the MLB season in its infancy stages, one of the more surprising stories is the white-hot start of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

 

After a dominant Monday performance dismissing the Washington Nationals 8-4, the Pirates have raced off to a 5-0 record leading before running it back on Wednesday against the Nats. All of a sudden, a team that finished fourth in the NL Central with a 76-86 record without a winning record since 2018 is an offensive juggernaut these days.

 

Pittsburgh’s offense is on a historical, albeit short, run. The Pirates have tallied at least six runs in each of their victories for the first time in more than a century, something Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton loves…

 

“There’s significance to getting off to a good start,” Shelton said Monday night after the Pirates beat the Nats to follow up a four-game sweep at the Miami Marlins. “You come out of spring training and all the things you talk about that you kind of want to implement – and we’ve talked a lot about our intent should be and how it should be – and we’ve kind of executed that in the first five games.”

 

Teams don’t dominate offensively to the tune of 39-21 without input throughout the lineup. MLBbro.com has eyes on the collection of talent from the “MLBbro Amigo” trio consisting of Ke’Bryan Hayes, Andrew McCutchen, and Michael A. Taylor.

 

These three MLBbros have made their presence felt through the first week but Monday’s win featured two of the three…

 

  • Michael A. Taylor led the offensive brigade with three hits.


  • Andrew McCutchen followed suit strongly with two hits as well.  

 

Another sweep on the road could possibly have the Pittsburgh Pirates become the talk of the Majors, shocking the baseball world with a long winning streak. But to do that, the contributions of the MLBbros will get them there.

 

Ke’Bryan Hayes: 

 

For years, Ke’Bryan Hayes has been known for snagging balls in the field with swagger and excellence. Now it seems he has brought his baseball bat to the party. After struggling with injuries, Hayes started to find his eye at the plate.

 

Our MLBbro is coming off a career campaign at the plate with career highs in hits (134), doubles (31), triples, (7), Bro Bombs, (15) and RBI (61). In August, Hayes hit .320 with six homers and 20 RBI in August and followed that up with nine doubles and four homers in September.

 

Through five games this season, Ke’Bryan Hayes has been on fire, flirting with the .400 mark hitting .391 with five RBI and an even more impressive OPS 1.004. With the combination of a hot bat and his Gold Glove ease in the field…

 

 

Are NL MVP awards in his future? Just remember MLBbro.com mentioned it first.

 

Andrew McCutchen:

 

For any team to stay on top especially when it’s not a normal occurrence, locker room leadership is needed to keep everyone focused. This is the job of MLBbro, Andrew McCutchen. A player the Pirates brought back on a one-year $5 million deal this offseason. A veteran who has mastered the process of staying ready, and in the moment, understanding the highs and lows has already been shown this season…

 

  • After striking out five times in his first nine at-bats…


  • After being a scratch in the Saturday and Sunday games…


  • McCutchen returns to the lineup and has a solid 2-4 (with a walk) performance at the plate including a huge RBI in the 8th inning on Monday.

 

  

Our MLBbro has a resume that includes five All-Star appearances and a 2013 NL MVP who remembers the last time this franchise was relevant leading the Pirates to three straight playoff appearances (2013-15).

 

If McCutchen can duplicate the stat line of 12 homers, 43 RBI and 55 runs from the DH spot in part-time duty, his experience alone as a winner will keep the young players on track. Keep it locked to MLBbro.com as we track Andrew’s 300th career home run, which he missed by inches on Monday.

 

Michael A. Taylor:

 

MLBbro.com has been shining the spotlight on Atlanta Braves center fielder Michael Harris II his whole career for his production at the plate out of the ninth spot in the lineup.

 

Is MLBbro Michael Harris II Trending Upwards Just In Time For the Atlanta Braves Postseason?

 

It’s time for him to slide over and make room for Michael A. Taylor, also a center fielder who is now on fire hitting out of the eighth/ninth slot in the lineup. This MLBbro is batting .471 with four RBI and an OPS of 1.064. Couple this with a slugging percentage of .588 Taylor is off to an unbelievable start. Like fellow MLBbro McCutchen, Taylor has a team-friendly one-year contract at $4 million. 

 

The former American League Gold Glove winner has a 10-year run as one of the best fielding outfielders in the game. Now that his hot bat is included, it’s not hard to see why Pittsburgh is undefeated.

 

These three MLBbro amigos have illustrated three ingredients of winning baseball…offense…defense and leadership off the field. It’s something the Pittsburgh Pirates need to keep their winning ways.