Hayes owns the lowest OPS in all of baseball (.573) and continues to experience lingering effects from his back injury.
Sometimes, you need to sit down and just take a break. Step away from the fire and reassess the situation, not push the envelope further and make things worse. Ke’Bryan Hayes needs an extended stay on the injured list.
The Pittsburgh Pirates continue to freefall in the NL standings, now eight games under .500 at 59-67. Only the Miami Marlins, Colorado Rockies, and Washington Nationals are worse in the National League than the Pirates.
Hayes continues to deal with lingering back issues that have tanked his season from a poor one to one of the worst in the sport. His .573 OPS is the worst in all of baseball. Hayes still performed as a premiere defender, but at times, it was evident he couldn’t move as well as in previous seasons.
Manager Derek Shelton said Tuesday that Hayes saw a doctor Monday and continues to be evaluated. Hayes was placed on the 10-day IL the same day. Disinterested is a common term poised by people critical of Hayes. It’s not a fair criticism, especially considering the grueling nature of the injury.
“Someone who has what I have, you want to stay away from turning,” Hayes told Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “But that’s what I have to do every day.”
Hayes told Mackey his disc has “lost its jelly stuff” and MRI’s are showing that the discs are compressing.
I’m not a doctor, but that’s not good. Hayes should not step on the field or engage in baseball activities for the rest of the season. If necessary, it should be extended into November and December.
I’m concerned chronic issues are at play for Hayes. It makes sense considering multiple stints on the IL and a year full of struggles at the plate. Hayes isn’t able to turn fully without experiencing pain. How can you swing a bat and hit a 98 MPH fastball or slider breaking away from you with that ailment?
A 2023 Gold Glove winner, Hayes owns a -0.2 offensive WAR and topped the ball a considerable amount of at-bats. In 365 at-bats, Hayes totaled 15 extra-base hits and slashed .233/.283/.290. His previously low slugging percentage was .345 in 2022.
Hayes, 27, is signed through the 2029 season, with a team option for 2030. The future isn’t bright for the once promising first-round pick who reached career highs in home runs (15) and RBIs (61) over 124 games last year. I worry that this will hamper Hayes for the rest of his career, and he won’t return to the promise of August and September less than a year ago.
Signed through the decade for at least $37 million, Hayes remains a key component of the Pirates’ future. The question is, for how long.
The playoffs are no longer a realistic possibility. They haven’t been for more than two weeks. It’s confusing to me why the Pirates continued to play Hayes until he publicly expressed his frustration with the injury and how much pain he’s in. There’s no reason for him to keep playing and the Pirates must focus on a solution, whether it’s surgery or something else.
Hayes isn’t the same player he was in 2020. He’s certainly not the same player who hit in the middle of the lineup not long ago. Unless you’ve experienced a serious back injury, it’s hard to realize the amount of pain Hayes remains in. He can’t turn! One of the main functions of hitting is turning your hips, turning a double play, turning to first base. It’s in the name.
There’s still a good player there, especially defensively. The Pirates and Hayes need to do everything they can to prevent this from becoming a career and potentially life-defining injury. The clock’s ticking, not on the contract, but potentially the chance for Hayes to be himself again, which is a scary, scary thing in all aspects of sports and also life.