10 Observations: Ke'Bryan Hayes putting it all together
Hayes continues to shine both offensively and defensively.
Murphy 9/19: After watching Max Kranick pitch on Tuesday I went back and watched his last couple of games and I feel like there is enough there for me to be intrigued about bringing him back next year, in the right situation.
Would like to see the velocity to trend back up in the right direction, but it’s still early in return to the mound.
Murphy 9/20: One guy that just keeps jugging along this year has been Aaron Shortridge, who made his Triple-A debut on Wednesday. Like a lot of his other starts, it was solid, and is a command guy without any real out pitch.
He threw 39 fastballs on the day, picking up four whiffs on 13 swings as well as 11 called strikes. Maybe not the kind of stuff that screams prospect, but it sounds like the team is high on him.
I’m intriguing on what his fastball shape and other metrics come back with, just out of curiosity.
Murphy 9/21: If Ke’Bryan Hayes doesn’t walk away with the Gold Glove this year I think it’s a legitimate ask what we are even doing here with all of this. It’s looked so easy for him. The offense is really just an added bonus at this point.
Murphy 9/21: Can someone with questionable control get away with throwing just two pitches? That’s going to be the question we are going to have to ask ourselves about Jared Jones.
He finished really strong, I’m still not sure if I would give him a shot in the majors this year - I would lean towards no - but he’s really finished strong and it’s been when he’s basically scrapped his curveball and change up.
Not sure how that plays out in the majors, at least as a starter, but he’ll get a shot at some point in 2024.
Murphy 9/22: Wil Crowe with six shutout innings? That’s not something I really expected to see to close out the season. He’s answered the call to eat some innings with Indianapolis, but that kind of feels that’s all it is at this point.
WTM 9/22: One of the standard offseason rituals is looking for starting depth. Teams sign guys to stash in AAA, maybe down-on-his-luck major leaguers, guys trying to come back from injury, obscure minor league vets, etc., just in case. Most of these guys won’t help, but having one or two contribute a bit can make a difference. Sometimes you have to go very, very deep. There’s the inevitable TJ case, somebody else gets hurt, every single one of your prospects loses tons of velocity. The usual.
For some reason, I’ve never seen anybody mention this, but this was Ben Cherington’s effort to add starting depth last winter:
Caleb Smith — 6.40 ERA at Indy, out for season since June.
Kent Emanuel — 6.19 ERA at Indy, released in August.
Wei-Chieh Huang — Injured all season.
Tyler Chatwood — Threw ten innings in relief in minors, released in June.
Nate Webb — Injured all season.
But that’s OK, they’ve been able to turn to TBD1, TBD2, TBD3 and TBD4. Those guys take the ball every time.
Murphy 9/23: To be fair, the Pirates did come back and win that game, but I really enjoyed a mini parallel between some defensive play. Josh Palacios struggled fielding a ball in right field that was eventually turned into an inside the park home run.
Canaan Smith-Njigba perfectly played a ball off the wall and fired a strike to second that kept a single from turning into a double.
Murphy 9/24: Speaking of CSN, he finished the year with 15 home runs and 21 stolen bases, and you have to think that the time he spent in the majors kept him from reaching 20/20.
He’ll be an interesting story to follow this off-season. Ideally you want him in the role Josh Palacios is in now, but he never did much in his stint with the major league club.
Murphy 9/24: I think it’s fairly clear he’s a AAAA guy, but what a strong season while with Indianapolis for Ryan Vilade. Last game of the season he picked up four hits, and reached safely a total of 14 times against Rochester this past week.
He played really well defensively - both in the outfield and even during his brief time on the corners. From a pure minor league depth option, they could certainly do worst than what he put together this season.
Murphy 9/24: Remember when there was a debate about just how valuable of a player Ke’Bryan Hayes would be if was around a league average hitter?
He’s currently sitting at a 106 wRC+, which has helped lift his WAR on Fangraphs to 3.4 - which is good for the 50th best total among hitters.
So, the answer to the question? He’s a top 50 hitter in all of baseball.
5 WAR Hayes is coming!
Those of you who prematurely threw dirt on his career, need to send him a heartfelt letter of apology and thanks for being the best player on the Pirates this year.
I think someone already mentioned hiring Treads to work with the pitchers in the off-season, it's probably a good idea. Jones needs at least a show me 3rd pitch if not a 4th. Priester has the talent and time to develop similar to Keller. Solometo and Harrington could add a tick or two to raise thier ceilings. Bubba now focused on pitching only and having the right mind set, who knows what they could unlock. Ro needs something as does Ortiz but the potential is there. Skenes might be able to find better shape to his fastball.
Keller should probably gather up the boys and do a little team building if the pirates don't want to. Some outside ideas with fresh eyes could do wonders.
If only there was a place that could teach command and control, I'm afraid that those are not so teachable other than repeating the delivery.