Reds’ Terry Francona reveals plan after Ke’Bryan Hayes trade

The Cincinnati Reds went out and made a trade before the deadline, acquiring third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes from the Pittsburgh Pirates. Hayes is locked with the Reds for the next five years because of his contract, and he will be a key piece of the team moving forward.

Manager Terry Francona spoke about the move to acquire Hayes and what he has planned for him.

“Some notes from Terry Francona. Hayes is the third baseman. He might be the best defender in MLB,” Charlie Goldsmith wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“Francona said they’ve been talking about clean baseball all year,” Goldsmith continued. “Having this defense really helps that goal. This isn’t a team that hits the ball out of a park a ton, but they still just got better.”

Hayes is definitely looked at as a key defender, but he’s also not a bad hitter. He doesn’t have that much power at the plate, but he is capable of batting runners in. This season, Hayes owns a .236 batting average and .279 OBP while recording 87 hits, two home runs, and 36 RBIs.

With the Reds now with Noelvi Marte and Hayes, this team looks destined to make a run in the second half of the season, and according to MLB insider Jon Paul Morosi, they still want to make some moves before the end of the deadline.

“Ke’Bryan Hayes traded to Cincinnati, and the Reds are not done yet. I’m told the Reds are working to add pitching before Thursday’s trade deadline,” Morosi wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

The Reds are currently 56-52 and are in third place in the NL Central behind the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers. It’s going to take a lot for them to surpass those two teams, but they can fight for a Wild Card spot and hope to get into the playoffs.