Defense was the calling card for Ke'Bryan Hayes as he made his way through the Pirates' Minor League system. In his Major League debut, he showed he can handle the bat. And he's not bad on the basepaths either.
MLB Pipeline's No. 44 overall prospect homered, doubled, scored three times
Defense was the calling card for Ke'Bryan Hayes as he made his way through the Pirates' Minor League system. In his Major League debut, he showed he can handle the bat. And he's not bad on the basepaths either.
MLB Pipeline's No. 44 overall prospect homered, doubled, scored three times and drove in a pair of runs before the Bucs dropped an 8-7, 11-inning decision to the Cubs on Tuesday at PNC Park.
“That was unbelievable. It was outstanding,” Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton told reporters. “He did things well in all three facets of the game.”
Hours after he officially was promoted from the team's alternate training site in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Hayes donned the No. 13 that his father, Charlie, wore for six of his 14 seasons in the big leagues. The second-ranked Pirates prospect got the start at third base, where he won Minor League Gold Gloves each of the previous three years, and batted seventh.
After grounding out and taking a called third strike in his first two at-bats against Jon Lester, Hayes ripped a 1-2 pitch from the veteran left-hander into the left-field corner in the sixth inning to score Jacob Stallings.
Following a 71-minute rain delay, Hayes led off the bottom of the eighth against right-hander Dan Winkler and sent a 2-0 offering over the fence in center to knot the game, 6-6. He became the first Pirate since Walter Mueller in 1922 to collect two extra-base hits in his big league debut.
“Since Day 1, whenever I came to Pittsburgh, whenever I got signed, I’ve always dreamed about hitting a home run there,” Hayes said.
The 2015 first-round pick took a called third strike with the winning run at second in the ninth. But as the designated runner in the 10th, he raced home from third and beat the throw from pitcher Josh Osich on a fielder's choice by Bucs No. 25 prospect Anthony Alford .
“He’s somebody that was highly touted to come up, but I think we have to make sure that we don’t put expectations on him,” Shelton said. “We don’t have to look at him like he’s the guy who’s going to take us to the promised land. There’s going to be a lot of people that are going to help us move forward, and he’s going to be one of them.”
In other action:
Giants 23, Rockies 5
Top San Francisco prospect Joey Bart registered his first multi-hit game in the Majors, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI. Mired in a 1-for-19 slump, he singled in the second, third and sixth innings and was hit by a pitch in the seventh. Colorado's No. 30 prospect Antonio Santos was roughed up for two runs on four hits and two walks with a pair of strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings. Box score
Cardinals 16, Reds 2
Seth Elledge hit a batter and allowed a run-scoring double in the ninth inning before closing out St. Louis’ victory. The No. 27 Cardinals prospect was making his first appearance since Aug. 20 after returning from the club’s alternate training site Saturday. Sixth-ranked Reds prospect Jose Garcia had a single in four at-bats. The 22-year-old has hit safely in four of his first five games. Box score
Orioles 9, Mets 5
Andres Gimenez provided New York with a brief spark with his first Major League homer, a game-tying two-run shot in the sixth. The No. 3 Mets prospect is batting .258/.310/.379 in 28 games. No. 14 Franklyn Kilomé was tagged with his first big league loss after allowing three runs in the sixth and another in the seventh. The right-hander surrendered two homers among five hits, walked one and struck out two. No. 26 Ali Sanchez was 0-for-2 with a walk and was charged with a passed ball. Baltimore's No. 16 prospect Hunter Harvey yielded a leadoff single in the eighth, but struck out two of the next three batters. Despite going hitless in four at-bats, fifth-ranked Ryan Mountcastle is batting .324/.390/.541 with five RBIs through 10 games. Box score
Phillies 6, Nationals 0
Alec Bohm went deep for the second time as a big leaguer, added a single and scored twice on a two-RBI night. The top Phillies prospect has a .291/.365/.491 slash line with seven extra-base hits, nine RBIs and nine runs in 55 at-bats. Nats No. 2 prospect Luis Garcia singled in three at-bats and committed his third error. Box score
Twins 3, White Sox 2
Nick Madrigal stayed hot since his return from the Injured List. The fourth-ranked Chicago prospect singled in three at-bats and has gone 8-for-16 in his last four games. Top prospect Luis Robert went 0-for-4. Twins No. 6 prospect Ryan Jeffers was hitless in two plate appearances. Box score
Rangers 6, Astros 5 (10 innings)
Enoli Paredes bounced back from a rough outing last week to toss a scoreless eighth. Houston’s No. 13 prospect walked one and lowered his ERA to 3.29. No. 28 Blake Taylor surrendered two unearned runs after taking over in the 10th and suffered his first big league loss. Box score
Marlins 3, Blue Jays 2
Promoted from the club's alternate training site before the game, Miami's No. 4 prospect Jazz Chisholm made his big league debut. The 22-year-old Bahamas native came on as a defensive replacement for shortstop Miguel Rojas in the eighth and immediately snared a line drive off the bat of Cavan Biggio. Chisholm did not get a plate appearance, while eighth-ranked Lewin Diaz went 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts. Box score
Indians 10, Royals 1
Carlos Hernandez made an impressive big league debut for Kansas City. Having never pitched above Class A Lexington, the Royals' No. 12 prospect tossed 3 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of starter Matt Harvey. Hernandez gave up two hits and a walk while striking out two. Box score
Braves 10, Red Sox 3
Backed by three homers from Marcell Ozuna, No. 41 overall prospect Ian Anderson won for the second time in as many big league starts. The right-hander -- Atlanta's top pitching prospect -- allowed two runs on six hits over six innings, striking out eight and walking one. Eleventh-ranked Huascar Ynoa finished up with a hitless ninth, issuing a walk before getting Alex Verdugo to bounce into a game-ending double play. Box score
Tigers 12, Brewers 1
Bryan Garcia, Detroit's No. 17 prospect, retired both batters he faced to close the sixth and earn his third hold of the season. Tigers No. 30 prospect Rony Garcia worked around a hit and a walk in the ninth, striking out pinch-hitter Jacob Nottingham to end the game and drop his ERA to 5.40. Making his Major League debut, former first-round pick Phil Bickford surrendered four runs on four hits in one inning for Milwaukee. Box score
Daren Smith is an editor for MiLB.com.
