The Pirates continue taking baby steps while once again easing Ke’Bryan Hayes back from his left wrist injury.
On Wednesday, director of sports medicine Todd Tomcyzk said that Hayes has not experienced any new discomfort since aggravating the wrist during what was thought to be one of the final steps in his initial rehab two weeks ago in Detroit. The team has not provided a timeline for Hayes’ return to the active roster, but aim for their star third baseman to take swings on the field sometime this week.
“The short-term plan for Ke’Bryan is to continue to build up the swing volume in the cage, respond and see how he comes out of that,” Tomcyzk said.
With the return of the minor league season, there is still a possibility that Hayes, who traveled with the team to San Diego, might still need to get into at least one rehab game before being activated. But Tomcyzk wouldn’t commit to that plan and insisted they’re still taking things day-to-day. Hayes was originally supposed to play in alternate site games two weeks ago, but they were snowed out and Hayes aggravated the injury.
“It does make sense to get him some type of rehab at-bats prior to activating him,” Tomcyzk said. “But again, those conversations are ongoing. Nothing has been truly socialized that far out.”
The 24-year-old has been sidelined since the second game of the season against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, where the Pirates will play a three-game series this weekend. During his absence, the Pirates are third-worst in the National League in team batting (.226), runs scored (104), hits (214) and total bases (331) and their 20 total homers are the second fewest in the majors.
The Pirates snapped a 22-inning scoreless streak in the third inning of Tuesday’s 2-1 victory against the Padres. To say they could use Hayes, whom, in recent days, Derek Shelton and Jacob Stallings have both called the Pirates’ best player, back in the lineup would be an understatement.
But, while he’s on the trip, Hayes could still be a resource for the Pirates.
“Just having him around and having him being conversant with our group is important, not only for Ke' but for our other guys,” Shelton said. “I mean, he's a key member of our club, and while he's doing his rehab, him being with us and being in the dugout, and having conversations is extremely important on both sides of it.”
MORE INJURY UPDATES
• Opening day starter Chad Kuhl threw his second side session while the team was in San Diego on Wednesday. Kuhl has been on the injured list with right shoulder discomfort since April 22.
The side session was ongoing during Tomcyzk’s media availability, but he indicated that if it were to go well that a simulated game or live batting practice would be the next step.
Kuhl hit the IL with a 6.32 ERA and 16 walks in 15 ⅔ innings.
• Down in Florida, Steven Brault continues to progress from his left lat strain. The last update from Brault was that he’d added some weight training to his rehab, which apparently is going well. Should that progress, Brault will continue to prepare his arm to actually start throwing a baseball toward the end of this week or next with some targeted plyometric training.
• The Pirates recalled Hunter Owen from the taxi squad Tuesday after Gregory Polanco was placed on the IL for undisclosed reasons. Teams are not allowed to say if a player was sidelined for any COVID-19-related reasons without a player’s permission. Neither Tomcyzk nor Shelton were able to give further details about Polanco. Owen will play right field and bat seventh in his major league debut against Yu Darvish and the Padres on Wednesday.
• It’s unlikely that Jared Oliva would have been the name in the lineup today instead of Owen had he been healthy. But Tomcyzk said the outfielder will continue his rehab from an oblique strain in Bradenton for some light baseball activity. Oliva should still be on target for a return to full action, now within the next 3-to-5 weeks.
Oliva had remained in Bradenton when big-league camp broke at the end of March for extra hitting instruction alongside Cole Tucker. He'd come north to the alternate site to get into those games but felt the injury during batting practice.
• The Pirates are still not one of the teams to reach the 85 percent vaccination threshold, but, however slowly, they’re still trying to get there.
“We're inching towards that goal,” Tomcyzk said.
• The other three pitchers on the 60-day IL, Blake Cederlind (Tommy John), Austin Davis (UCL) and top Rule 5 pick Jose Soriano (UCL), are each progressing from their elbow injuries. Davis and Soriano are throwing simulated games and should step into live action in the form of a rehab stint or extended game sometime soon. Cederlind is in good spirits as he recovers from Tommy John surgery.
“He’s very optimistic and upbeat about the process, how early it is,” Tomcyzk said. “The body team down in Florida continues to refine and look at opportunities to improve the remainder of his body while he’s working back through his rehab. We’re very encouraged by his progress at this point.”
