The pain doesn’t seem to end for Hayes
Ke’Bryan Hayes’s body continues to let him down. Not even through Spring Training, he has yet another injury concern. Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on Monday that Manager Derek Shelton said that Hayes was experiencing “left side tightness.” Hayes has not played a game since March 5.
However, Shelton said that Hayes fielded ground balls yesterday and will be taking swings today. This is a good sign that this isn’t too serious, but they should be extra cautious, considering his injury history and the fact that there is already an issue this early on.
Hayes said last month that he had felt the best he had in a long time, as he was finding new ways to manage his chronic back issue. Whether this latest injury has anything to do with the back issue is unknown, but it certainly wouldn’t be surprising.
It will be very important to monitor his progress over the next week. A completely healthy Hayes going into Opening Day and into the summer months is necessary for him to have a bounce-back year.
Hayes is entering the fourth year of an 8-year, $70 million deal the Pirates gave him in April of 2022. Although it seemed team-friendly at the time, Hayes’s struggles at the plate and lack of availability have not made him the cornerstone player the franchise expected him to be. If things don’t turn around this year, it may be time to trade him to a team that can afford to take a risk on a great defensive third baseman who is injury-prone and wouldn’t rely on him to be a face of the franchise.