Peguero and his 'dad,' Hayes, power Pirates to comeback over Royals

The next inning, Peguero ran into a slider and sent it 416 feet, effectively icing the game:

Like father, like son. And like that, the Pirates' infield is the heart of their lineup at the moment.

Hayes is on the best hitting tear of his career since his call up in September of 2020. Over his last 20 games, he has homered six times with 30 hits and a .366 batting average. Finally healthy, Hayes has overcome a slow start to the season and has a .752 OPS on the campaign, which is above the league average. After years of posting high exit velocities and not having the results to show for it, he is enjoying a three-week stretch that is amongst the best in the sport currently.

"Just really consistent with his timing, really consistent with his load, and he's getting to the ball in front," Derek Shelton said. "I think that's why we're seeing the power."

A few weeks ago, Hayes made a mechanical tweak to get his front foot down sooner, helping him catch the barrel out in front. That's helped him elevate the ball more, especially to the pull side, which has led to this stretch of 13 extra-base hits in 20 games. Coincidentally, one of the reasons for this hot stretch also comes from Altoona. When he was injured and watching video, Hayes and Altoona Curve hitting coach Jon Nunnally reconnected and started talking about his swing more. Hayes had only worked with him in Altoona in 2020, but they have worked in person at times these past few weeks as Hayes has heated up. Shelton did point out though that Hayes' offensive turnaround began back in June when he was healthy, though that was interrupted by a couple trips to the injured list with back soreness.

Now he's carrying the offense on his back. When asked how it feels to be the baddest guy in the lineup at the moment, Hayes smiled and with a slight chuckle said, "it feels good." If he can keep that OPS above the league-average mark, after you factor in his elite defense, Hayes could stake a claim as one of the best third basemen in the National League and that eight year, $70 million contract could become a steal for the franchise.

Peguero doesn't have a long-term deal in place, and his rookie season has been streaky. Entering Tuesday, Peguero was hitting just .133 with no extra-base hits over his last 10 games, nine of which were starts. So what happens Tuesday? He racked up three hits, was one of the only Pirate hitters that gave Royals starter Cole Ragans any issue in his seven scoreless frames and, of course, iced the game with that shot in the ninth. 

That big swing of the night came against a Stephen Cruz slider. The breaking ball undoubtedly hung, but a swing like that is a good sign considering his struggles against sliders in his brief time in the majors. Entering Tuesday, Peguero was hitting just .107 with 18 strikeouts in 28 at-bats against breaking balls.

It's just one swing, but sometimes that's all it takes to get things going.

"I think it's more of the approach of what pitch you should swing at, and that's really important," Sheltons aid. "And the fact that he got it as clean as he did, that's something that really stands out of, 'hey, what you should swing and what you should not swing at.' "

And even if that swing doesn't spark a turnaround, a blast like that does help the ol' confidence.

"This game is hard," Peguero said. "All I need to do is recognize it, work through [it]. I've been working really hard and trust the work that I put in."

Now if that quote doesn't sound similar to something his dad would say...

"It feels great," Hayes said about powering the comeback. "All the hard work you put in, you just try to be as consistent as you can in your workdays. Those are the type of moments that you grow up playing the game for, late in the game, tying the game up or taking the lead. It felt really great."