CINCINNATI – After a mostly frustrating season at the plate as a rookie in 2021, Ke’Bryan Hayes’ sophomore season production has taken a noticeable step forward this season.
Through his first 94 plate appearances, Hayes is hitting .304 with a .404 on-base percentage, both of which are tops among Pirates’ hitters. He’s also hitting the ball hard, ranking 10th in baseball with a 93 mph average exit velocity.
If you were still worried about that wrist injury lingering, let those stats put those fears to bed.
A big reason for that early success is because of his continued maturation at the plate, especially with his plate discipline. He’s chasing less, making more contact and the contact is harder hit than a year ago.
“The pitches that he's not swinging at are really a plus,” Derek Shelton said. “Last year he put balls in play at balls he shouldn't have swung at. Now he's taking those pitches.
Shelton and hitting coach Andy Haines are both very pleased with Hayes’ output so far this season. In fact, if there’s one person not satisfied with those results, it’s Hayes himself.
“I’m not really where I want to be at,” Hayes told me. “I’m hitting the ball hard, but I’d like to get it in the air more.”
Hayes has been one of the Pirates’ best, most consistent hitters this season, but the fly balls continue to be a lingering point of contention. Not just getting it in the air, but elevating pulled pitches. League wide this season, pulled fly balls result in a home run 33.8% of the time, while a fly ball to the opposite field has left the yard just 4.5% of the time.
That partly explains why Hayes’ high exit velocities have not resulted in home runs the last two seasons. Last year, he barely had any hits to left:
And while he several doubles down the left field line this year, most of his hits are either on the ground or to the right-center power alley:
So despite those terrific exit velocity numbers, proving there is some serious pop in that bat, Hayes has still yet to go deep. He’s drive and barreled a handful of pitches, but is slugging just .380 and has yet to go deep.
“It’s usually the last thing that comes in a player, being able to learn to pull the ball in the air consistently,” Haines told me in Detroit. “He is learning how to do that. It’s going to slowly go up. A lot of that is learning how to use your body, stay behind the ball.”
Hayes and Haines have been working on how he should be using his body. Hayes feels he needs to get behind the ball. That starts at his weight transfer when he is in his launch position. This year, he has felt himself drifting his weight as he starts to move forward, when the ball is 20 to 30 feet away from the plate.
It’s at that point in a swing where the direction of the batted ball is determined. If his swing catches the ball out in front of the plate, it’s usually pulled. If he’s behind on it, it will go to the opposite field. Drifting is causing him that fraction of a second.
Last year, there were times where Hayes would purposefully try to push the ball to right field. Pitchers caught on and started pounding him inside with more fastballs. He’s learned from that and is trying to do more with what he’s given, which is a focal point in the conversations he and Haines have.
“I feel like I’m swinging at the right pitches,” Hayes said. “Now it’s just about getting my body in position to get loft on the ball.”
He’s taking steps and having conversations on how to do it. If he does and Hayes adds more slug to his high OBP, he could elevate his game even higher.
“Key’s growing right in front of our eyes as a hitter,” Haines said. “He’s got a chance to be a star.”
