Pirates GM Ben Cherington sees a 'good sign' with Ke'Bryan Hayes, still early in center field

Apr. 15—Seeing Ke'Bryan Hayes is back to taking swings is a "good sign," yet Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said he doesn't want to "guess on a day" the rookie third baseman will be ready to be activated from the 10-day injured list.

Cherington spoke with the media for 20 minutes Thursday before the Pirates played the San Diego Padres in a matinee for the final game of their opening homestand and addressed Hayes and other issues, including their struggles in center field.

Hayes, out with a left wrist injury since April 3, is taking grounders and doing defensive drills and has been swinging at soft-toss in the batting cage the past two days. The Pirates lost six consecutive games without him before winning four of their last five at home.

"I think that he's got a bat in his hands and he's swinging it is a good sign," Cherington said. "As far as the timeline, still don't know, don't want to guess on a day. That he's got a bat in his hand and he's swinging means that we're taking a step forward and that's encouraging and we're just going to continue to go day to day with that.

"I think at some point, the question will come: Does he need to see some live pitching? Just kind of what does the progression look like back into games. Obviously, we're past 10 days. Still feel good about the longer term prognosis. It's a good sign that he's swinging a bat and we're encouraged by that, and we'll just keep learning every day."

Cherington also wants to reserve making a judgment on the candidates in center field until the Pirates have played more than a dozen games, yet expressed concern about the production at a position that has been a revolving door since Starling Marte was traded to Arizona for a pair of 19-year-old prospects in January 2020.

Dustin Fowler, acquired from the Oakland A's for cash in spring training, is batting .167 (5 for 30) and made his seventh start Thursday against the Padres. Anthony Alford, claimed off waivers from Toronto last August, got his first hit Thursday after starting the season 0 for 19. Wilmer Difo also started a game in center and went 0 for 5 with four strikeouts.

"We're 12 games in, so it's really early still," Cherington said. "We're still learning, but ultimately we know we want to get more production, and we also want to learn more about players.

"So, you know, I think we want to give it some time. And we'll see where this goes.

"We've got young players out there who are getting a chance to play at the major league level for the first time with any level of consistency. And there's an adjustment period. There often is an adjustment period. As long as guys are focused on what they need to do and working hard and trying to make adjustments, we want to support that. At the same time, we want to eventually see better production also.

"For right now, we want to give guys a chance to play and get into the season a little bit more."

Cherington isn't ready to reach into the alternate training site, where veterans Brian Goodwin and Todd Frazier are playing on minor league contracts, though he didn't rule out the possibility of a trade or moving an infielder like Phillip Evans or Erik Gonzalez into an outfield spot or sliding Bryan Reynolds from left to center. Cherington, however, deferred to manager Derek Shelton on lineup decisions.

"I don't think we have anything off the table," Cherington said. "And that's not specific to any one player, though. ... I would just say that we want to continue to find ways to use our outfield situation as an opportunity and give guys a chance to earn more opportunity out there. And whether that's guys who have played outfield all their lives or eventually guys who have done other things and are open to both, but we know over time we want to improve our outfield and we want to give guys a chance to be part of that."

Another possibility is outfield prospect Jared Oliva, who remained in Bradenton along with shortstop Cole Tucker, to work on their offensive games because Cherington said it offered them better access to facilities and individualized training. Cherington said Oliva has since joined the club's alternate training site in Pittsburgh and will join the Pirates on their nine-game road trip as a part of the traveling taxi squad.

"Both of those guys are important, and we have a long season and they're both gonna have a chance to play a lot of baseball," Cherington said. "We want to take advantage of the time we have now to put them in the best possible position to do well."

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