PITTSBURGH — One game back and Ke’Bryan Hayes is already showing the many ways he can provide a spark to the Pirates’ offense in the coming days.
The rookie third baseman went 2-for-3 and wowed with the glove in his first game off the 60-day injured list in a 5-3 win over the Marlins at PNC Park on Thursday.
Hayes showed his legs are well under him with an infield single in the first inning, when he reached a near-elite 29.9 ft/sec sprint speed. After striking out to end the third inning, he came right back with a ball off the Clemente Wall in the sixth that he stretched into a triple, setting him up to score on a fielding error.
But what is a day at the office for Hayes without a defensive gem or two? The three-time Minor League Gold Glove Award winner made a diving stop to rob Jazz Chisholm Jr. — who is in the 95th percentile in sprint speed in MLB — of an insurance RBI in the seventh inning. Then, he robbed ex-Pirate Starling Marte of a leadoff extra-base hit in the eighth to keep Pittsburgh within a run, which proved crucial when Jacob Stallings cleared the bases with a double in the eighth to score the game-winning runs.