The Reds welcome the Pirates to town with the postseason in sight

This Pirates rookie has made an impact.

Someone forgot to tell rookie Ke’Bryan Hayes that playing at the major league level was supposed to be difficult. All he’s done, since making his debut on September 1st, is slash .344/.400/.594 with a homer in 32 at-bats. That’s an impressive start.

The 23-year-old right-handed hitter is the son of former infielder Charlie Hayes who played 14 years in the majors including a season in Pittsburgh. Ke’Bryan was the Pirates first-round selection in the 2015 draft and looks well on his to occupying the hot corner for years to come.

Entering the 2020 season as the No. 41 overall prospect, according to MLB.com, Hayes has shown a propensity for reaching base throughout his minor league career which has carried over to his arrival in the Steel City. In five minor league seasons, he reached base at .355 clip.

Since arriving in Pittsburgh, Hayes has been feasting on fastballs to the tune of the .368 average. He’s also showing maturity at the plate. Per Baseball Savant, Hayes is swinging at the first pitch of an at-bat just 25.7% of the time which is less than the 28.3% league average. In addition, he’s only chasing 28.4% of pitches out of the strike zone, which is just slightly above the MLB average of 28.2%.

Granted it’s an extremely small sample size, but the Pirates brass has to be thrilled with what they’ve seen in the first two weeks fo Ke’Bryan Hayes’ career. No doubt, as the pitchers become more familiar with him, adjustments will need to be made. But for the time being, he’s enjoying life in The Show.