Fighting 1st slump of his MLB career, Pirates rookie Ke'Bryan Hayes trying to 'hunt the good'

Jun. 24—Ke'Bryan Hayes is chasing fastballs, not a baseline batting average, so the Pittsburgh Pirates rookie third baseman concentrates on how hard and how often he's hitting the ball while mixing in walks for good measure.

After slashing .376/.442/.682 with seven doubles, two triples, five home runs and 11 RBIs in his first 24 career MLB games, Hayes knew replicating the statistics of his sensational September was unrealistic. Yet he couldn't help but notice his numbers were way down since returning from a two-month stint on the injured list after a jolt ran from his left hand down to his wrist April 3.

In the dozen games since June 8 — when his failure to touch the base while rounding first erased a home run in a 5-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers — Hayes was hitting .209 (9 for 43) and enduring the first slump of a young major league career that has spanned a grand total of 43 games over two seasons.

"It's just human," Hayes said. "You've just got to find ways whenever you're in a slump to be able to get out of it, hunt the good. Whenever you hit the ball hard and if it gets caught, you can't be too discouraged about that."

Then again, is it really a slump? Hayes has a hit in 15 of 19 games this season and, dating to last year, has reached base safely in 27 consecutive games. That's the longest streak by a Pirates rookie since Hall of Famer Arky Vaughan in 1932. Hayes pondered the question for a moment.

"Not really," Hayes said, with a shrug. "Here and there, I've had some at-bats where I've looked bad and I've had some at-bats where I've looked good. The result wasn't there."

Hayes, however, admits that he's "been struggling a little bit" and is working to simplify his swing and reduce his body movement. He's focusing on his base mechanics in the batting cage because he feels like his front side is clearing too early while hunting heaters. According to Statcast, Hayes is batting .179 (5 for 28) against fastballs — compared to .423 (22 for 52) last year — but .417 (5 for 12) against off-speed pitches. His zone contact rate, which has dropped from 93.7% to 87.1%, shows his timing is a bit off.

"I'm just having a battle right now, trying to find ways to get on base," Hayes said. "I don't really ever look at it as the pitcher is getting me out. I just look at as I'm getting myself out, that I'm not swinging at what I want to swing at, I'm not being aggressive on pitches that I need to be aggressive.

"I'm sure with all the data that they have for the pitcher that they're creating a plan each series to come at guys, what to throw at each hitter and what their weaknesses are. ... Whenever you get good pitches to hit, you can't miss 'em."

That mentality served Hayes well Wednesday, when he went 2 for 4 with a pair of RBI singles and a walk in the 4-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox at PNC Park. It was his fourth multi-hit game of the season but his first since June 6. His first single tied the score in the third, and he was in scoring position for the tying run in the seventh.

"Sometimes, when you hit the ball hard and it gets caught, then all of sudden you get in a stretch," Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. "It's nice when you put a couple balls in play, they take generous hops for you and that can really kind of get you going."

Hayes wants to make one thing clear: He doesn't believe the baserunning blunder on his home run against the Dodgers has anything to do with his drop in numbers. He considers the timing to be coincidental.

"Nah, I'm way past that," Hayes said. "I don't even think about that anymore. The only time I think about it is when someone brings it up to me."

It could be a case of baseball punching back after Hayes had nine multi-hit games through his first 24 on his way to winning NL rookie of the month honors last September. That included a five-hit game (with three doubles) at Cleveland and a streak of eight consecutive hits over his final three games.

Another highly touted Pirates rookie had a similar struggle following a red-hot start. In 2018, Austin Meadows slashed .325/.352/.614 with five doubles, two triples, five homers and 10 RBIs in his first 24 games before slipping to .259/.302/.310 with three doubles and three RBIs over his next 17. The Pirates traded Meadows to Tampa Bay at the trade deadline in the Chris Archer deal, a mistake they won't dare to repeat with Hayes because of his dynamic defense and years of contract control.

Hayes can relate to what Meadows endured that summer.

"I mean, in the minor leagues at all levels, I've had my months where I felt like I couldn't get out," Hayes said, "and then there were weeks where I seemed like I couldn't find a hole."

Hayes says he isn't seeing as many pitches over the middle of the plate but says the sequencing is "pretty much the same." He also noticed that opponents are shading their center fielder more toward right-center to defend his opposite-field gap power and shifting their second baseman behind the bag, a common move against righty hitters.

The Pirates also aren't playing as stringent of a schedule as last year, when they faced only American League and National League Central opponents. And the splits show Hayes is performing better at PNC Park (.304/.385/.478) than on the road (.208/.321/.500). Hayes' struggles aren't a surprise to Shelton, who credits his calm demeanor and "slow heartbeat" for not allowing his success or failures to affect him.

"I think we knew this was going to happen," Shelton said. "He came in last year, and we stayed 100% in the Centrals, and then he only plays in two games early. I think people are making a little bit of adjustments to him, and we're very confident that he'll make an adjustment back. But I'm not concerned with him in the least bit. I think with young kids, you're going to see ebbs and flows, and I don't think anybody thought we were going to see the ebb or the flow with him because he started off so well. He's gonna be fine."

For Hayes, it's a matter of finding the fastballs and turning on them early enough that they become hits instead of foul balls. If he can do that, we are talking about his streaks instead of a slump.

"It's just a matter of time before I start getting more balls over the plate," Hayes said. "When I do, I've got to put good swings on them and hit them hard."

Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Kevin by email at kgorman@triblive.com or via Twitter .