Pirates' Ke'Bryan Hayes Finds Groove at Plate

The Pirates swept the Mets, in just their second sweep of the season, outscoring their opponent 30-4, a 26+ run differential, their best in 50 years, when they outscored the Chicago Cubs by 28 runs over a three game series.

Hayes said that they wanted a strong response after an off-day, which they had after their series on the road vs. the Milwaukee Brewers and that it was great putting on an all-around performance from the offense, the pitching and the fielding this season vs. the Mets.

“Yeah, I mean, it was real fun," Hayes said on the sweep. "Anytime you can just blow teams out, especially at this level, I mean, it’s hard enough to get wins, but whenever you’re able to do it like that and everyone’s getting hits, everyone’s throwing well. It feels good as a team.”

Hayes noted that one big part of the victory was taking an early lead and that they mostly took what they got from the Mets pitching staff and it continued into this victory.

“I think we’re best whenever we’re fighting, we’re taking our singles, taking our walks and yeah, I mean, I just tried to just slow it down even more once I got to two strikes and was able to put it in play and [Oneil Cruz] came up and hit the two-run home run," Hayes said. "I think whenever, being able to jump out in front, 4-0 to start the first inning after beating them how we did the first two games, that helped out a lot with today and we were able to keep it going throughout the whole game."

Hayes extended his hitting streak to eight games and is batting the best he has all season. He is slashing .448/.484/.552 with 13 hits in 29 at-bats, three doubles, eight RBIs and two walks during this streak

This is in great contrast with how he batted previously, slashing .223/.276/.277 for an OPS of .554 this season. He changed his offensive approach at the plate, after dealing with chronic back issues last season, which saw him transition from a one handed-swing to two-handed-swing.

Hayes said that he worked recently with someone outside of the organization, who he didn't name, but that it has made him swing much better, with his production improving over this recent stretch.

“Yeah I’ve got with someone and I kinda got work on my body," Hayes said. "Kinda with my alignment. So yeah, it’s been feeling a lot better. So, just at the plate, I’ve been able to just kind of, not think about my body and mechanics. I’ve kind of just, well really this past series, just thinking about getting a pitch to hit over the middle of the plate. Just feeling free and not having to worry about that. Hopefully I can keep it going.”

The Pirates have struggled immensely from the plate this season, ranking near the bottom in many categories in the MLB, including the second-worst slugging percentage and OPS.

Hayes thinks that one of the best things the Pirates should do going forward is stick to the plan manager Don Kelly has for them, get on base any way they can and continue long rallies, which will get them in the win column more often than not.

“I think, just, as a team we’ll try to do too much at times in spots," Hayes said. "Especially if we’ve had a game or two where we’re kinda not getting things going, but I think whenever we’re able to bring it back, just work pitch-to-pitch, at-bat to at-bat and then kinda just keep it going. I think yesterday, we had like five singles in a row. Those type of things kill pitchers whenever you’re able to keep guys on the base.”