Many left 2020 asking that question about Ke’Bryan Hayes’ incendiary September performance. The 23-year-old Pirates third baseman hit .376 with five home runs in 24 games during his big league debut. His 1.124 OPS ranked fourth among qualifiers in September, and he showed the array of secondary skills necessary to believe his breakout was no fluke.
No, Hayes won’t maintain a .450 batting average on balls in play, but the rookie hit the ball hard with frequency, took his walks, turned in a 79th percentile sprint speed and delivered on projected Gold Glove-caliber defense at the hot corner.
The incredulity surrounding Hayes stemmed more from his minor league track record—consistently good but never great—than his debut. At Triple-A Indianapolis in 2019, both Hayes’ .336 on-base percentage and .415 slugging ranked below the International League averages.
But scouts remained high on Hayes, whose athleticism, quick swing, patience and defensive prowess stood out, even when his raw offensive output did not. Similar things could have been said about Francisco Lindor heading into 2015 and Hanley Ramirez heading into 2006. But when called up, both shortstops quickly became impact big leaguers.
This story is from the December 2020 edition of Baseball America.
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This story is from the December 2020 edition of Baseball America.
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