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Ke'Bryan Hayes 2023 Outlook: 3B Simply Hasn't Proven He Can Hit
2 years agoThe Pirates made a long-term commitment to Ke'Bryan Hayes last season but that doesn't mean that fantasy managers should do the same. Quite frankly, he can't hit. His .244/.314/.345 triple-slash line with seven homers and 20 steals over 560 PAs is a drag in the HR and batting average categories, and he's not going to rack up many counting stats in Pittsburgh's lineup even hitting third. He needed a .307 BABIP to post that mediocre average and his 10.8 IFFB% is way too high for someone with a 3.9% rate of Brls/BBE. Meanwhile, his 28.8 FB% is too low to take advantage of his decent 93 mph average airborne exit velocity, not that his 6.3% HR/FB was any good. Pittsburgh is also a terrible place to hit, so environment doesn't make Hayes any more attractive for fantasy purposes. The slick-fielding Hayes offers decent plate discipline and should steal another 20 bags or so, but you have to sacrifice everything else to get it at an ADP of 162.07. Don't condemn your roster to mediocrity that way.
