Star prospect Ke’Bryan Hayes hasn’t participated in the Pirates’ camp, and manager Derek Shelton revealed today (with Hayes’ permission) that the 23-year-old has tested positive for the coronavirus. Shelton told MLB.com’s Adam Berry and other reporters that Hayes was still in quarantine, though gave no hint as to when Hayes could be ready to participate. Since Hayes never arrived at camp, it can be assumed that he tested positive during the initial round of intake tests.
Hayes is seen as both Pittsburgh’s top position player prospect and one of the more intriguing minor leaguers in the sport, featuring highly on top-100 prospect lists. Prior to the 2020 season, Fangraphs was the most bullish on Hayes with a #30 ranking, while Baseball Prospectus’ 63rd-place ranking was the third baseman’s lowest showing. Picked 32nd overall in the 2015 draft, Hayes has already drawn raves for his fielding ability at third base, while his bat has shown promise (.279/.354/.399 over 1991 minor league plate appearances) but was still something of a work in progress.
Hayes was seen as a lock to debut sometime in 2020, and presumably could still be in line for some playing time at the MLB level should he recover relatively soon. Depending on how long Hayes is out and how long it would take him to prepare in a training camp scenario, however, the Pirates could decide to hold off on starting his service time clock until the 2021 season. Beyond the contractual control logistics, the Bucs also naturally want to be as safe as possible with their star youngster, and bring him along in a way that doesn’t impede his development.
In a different world, he’d ideally go back to minors to hit with some more consistency, but…there are no minors.
I know there’s not any age limits on prospects, but this dude is already 23. Is he still going to be kicking around in the minors as a prospect at 25 like Christian Arroyo?
The Pirates over bake their prospects so that more of their peak/prime years are in the six year window of control.
Agreed, drafted in 15, how they going to wait? Geez. Freaking 24-25 years old b4 he gets to the bigs? Ridiculous
He’ll likely sit out the first week and then be called back up. If this was a normal 2020 and things got off as planned, he likely would have been the Pirates’ starting third baseman by now.
Hey Briffle: Did you realize that MOST of the TOP PITCHING prospects taken in 2018 from college are either 23 or will be 23 this year? Casey Mize, for example turned 23 on May 1st.
Hey Prospectnbstr: Did you realize that Hayes was drafted three years before Mize and everyone else in the 2018 draft, which means he has three more years of professional experience then all of them? The guy has been in the minors for five years, it’s not the same as other 23 year olds who got drafted two years ago.
Why does that even need to be explained to you?
Pirates aren’t going anywhere anyways in 2020. Don’t waste service time on this year.
I am definitely missing something on this guy. 23 year-old defense first guys aren’t usually this highly touted. He simply hasn’t shown the ability to hit that others in the top 100 have. I am sure he’s a great athlete and probably has some bat speed, but at some point you have to show flashes of being able to hit. What am i missing?
You are spot on. If he was hitting he would have been up last season by the all star break.
Pedigree?
I thought everyone knew that Pirates prefer to bury their treasure…
Also, @forwhomjoshbelltolls already pointed out why. Get as many of the prime years before they have to pay/trade away because they won’t pay. Not too complicated.
So the guy should sit in the minors the next four years until he’s 27 when maybe the Pirates are back to being competitive?
It’s just statistics. Players are usually best from mid to late 20’s. Pirates are happy to sacrifice some of the early breakout potential, like Juan Soto had for Nats, in order to have the more consistently productive years guaranteed under their control. Over 30 is damaged goods for some organizations too, so partiality increases odds to resign if he’s good (or good enough). The COVID diagnosis makes it easier to justify manipulating the service time in order to get the extra year in case they are good, or better quality trade assets in return. I still think he’ll Boras his way to the Yankees in 2025 and be fine. Seemed like a hint of cynicism in your comment though, so I’m guessing you already know all of this.
I dont think Bell was throwing his support behind the idea. he was just saying that’s what they do. Hayes is clearly almost ready. he should probably be up once he is healthy
This obviously is not the typical year. One lucky stretch is all it takes. It would be nice to see him in camp and virus free. Every team has at least a punchers chance over 60 games, even this one.
no. no they don’t.
Yea they do. Not every team has a good chance, but bad teams have a much higher chance of sustaining success over 2 months than 6. Any team can go 35-25 and luck into the playoffs.
Hey, the Brewers made it with a .549 winning % last year. In a season like this, that’s the equivilant of a 33/27 season. A 5 game winning streak this year is the equivilant of a 13 or 14 game winning streak in a 162 game season. Going 15-5 over a 20 game stretch is like going 40/13 through the regular 162 games.
I’m not predicting that the Pirates are going to make the playoffs, nor am I holding my breath on it. But they were 28-28 at the end of May last season, and that was after an 8 game losing streak. One hot streak by any team, good or bad, could slingshot them into the playoffs.
A 12-6 start followed by .500 ball the rest of the way is 33-27. Certainly do-able. Getting out of the gate quick is everything in a season such as this one..
We are going to see a lot of complaints about service time considerations, and 2020 is going to be a flashpoint between owners and players for some time. In a short season, a non-contending team will value control over everything else. Even contending teams will have to take a hard look at time pro-rations before bringing up a prospect. Hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake, and the teams have the hammer.
A smart organization values player development over controlling a player’s service time. Right, P{irates?
Well, he would’ve likely been up by now if he could tap into his power more frequently.
He’s got some notable raw power potential. Has a 92 MPH exit velo last year.
Hey Briffle: Did you realize that MOST of the TOP PITCHING prospects taken in 2018 from college are either 23 or will be 23 this year? Casey Mize, for example turned 23 on May 1st.
Hey Prospectnbstr: Did you realize that Hayes was drafted three years before Mize and everyone else in the 2018 draft, which means he has three more years of professional experience then all of them? The guy has been in the minors for five years, it’s not the same as other 23 year olds who got drafted two years ago.
Why does that even need to be explained to you?