Bryan Reynolds and Ke’Bryan Hayes are the only two players the Pittsburgh Pirates have locked up for the long haul so far. Reynolds signed his deal in the early stages of this season. Hayes signed his on Opening Day in 2022. They’ve both struggled so far this season however it seems Reynolds and Hayes are in the midst of a break out. This is welcomed news for the final few weeks of the major league season.
Bob Nutting, the Pirates’ owner, doesn’t hand out big contracts all willy-nilly. When he does, he surely wants to see some return on investment. Through the early potions of both deals there has been a lot of questions as to if those guys could eventually live up to them.
Reynolds Break Out Long Time Coming
Reynolds signed his eight-year, $106 million contract in late April to quell any possibilities that he was unhappy in Pittsburgh and would be traded. For a team like the Pirates, this is huge. The first few months of Reynolds’ 2023 season were tough. His season average still sits at .269 thus far. While that isn’t an awful figure, it isn’t up to par with what Reynolds has shown to be.
However, his last 20 games have been the Reynolds we’ve been accustomed to. He’s slashing .309/.364/.907 in that time span. Reynolds has hit six home runs in 20 games after hitting nine through July 23rd. He’s grounded into just one double play and batted 11 runs in during this time.
Now for the season, Reynolds boasts a .269/.334/.789 slash line. All three figures are below his career averages and the Pirates would love for them to rise over the final few weeks. The team is just trying to get to the finish line but also have prospects playing for a spot on next years’ team. Seeing Reynolds play well and lead them to a solid finish would be a welcomed sight.
Ke'Bryan Hayes does it AGAIN. This one is an RBI triple to right-center to plate Bryan Reynolds. That's three RBIs for Hayes in each of his last three games. Pirates up 6-4.
— Danny Demilio (@Demilio22) August 10, 2023
Hayes Playing Good Ball Following IL-stint
It always felt like Reynolds would find his way out of his slump. The more concerning issue became whether Hayes could improve. Hayes’ rookie season 24-game sample size showed that he had the potential to be a beast at the big league-level. The problem is that injuries and under-performance hasn’t allowed him to get back to that level.
Hayes just returned from the injured list a week ago. He reclaimed his spot as the starting third baseman, though the Pirates are using Jared Triolo there as well to give Hayes a blow and not overload him for the remainder of 2023. While one of the premier defensive hot corner’s in the league, his hitting has been sub-par.
In 1270 career at-bats, Hayes possesses a .259/.318/.710 slash line. For a third baseman with an eight-year commitment, the Pirates certainly need more. Luckily for Hayes, he tied his career-high in home runs with seven after a home run Wednesday. That number is staggeringly low. But it seems anytime Hayes gets hot, the injury bug bites him and blows up all momentum.
Over the last seven-games since his return, Hayes looks like the investment the Pirates were hoping to get. He’s hitting .286 with two home runs and a .907 OPS in that span. Hayes has three-consecutive games with three-RBI.
Coming up through the minors, Hayes displayed a bit of power but nothing overwhelming. The Pirates would love for Hayes to finish the season healthy. Asking him to run that total up to 15 long balls on the season certainly isn’t the worst thing if he stays healthy. It would at least show that the power is there for Hayes and that his and Reynolds break out could push the Pirates to finish the season in a respectable manner.
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Photo Credit- Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Players Mentioned- Bryan Reynolds, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Jared Triolo
