Buccos Cove Players of the Week: Ke'Bryan Hayes and Geoff Hartlieb
After the first round of Spring Training cuts, the Pittsburgh Pirates now have 51 active players in Major League Spring Training. The Pirates will have to cut that number in half before they are able to travel to Chicago on April 1st for Opening Day 2021. That means that we are going to see more and more playing time for the starters and guys who have a chance of being with the Pirates on Opening Day. While the Minor Leaguers will still be in camp, they won't be getting as much playing time as the starters will For this week's Buccos Cove Players of the week, we look at two guys who will be playing in their first full seasons for the Pirates during the 2021 season.
Our Buccos Cove Hitter of the Week is infielder Ke'Bryan Hayes and the Pitcher of the Week is reliever Geoff Hartlieb. While it wasn't a strong week for the Pirates as a whole, with the team going just 1-4, but both of these players came through with strong weeks. Both players are also looking to be anchors of groups that are supposed to struggle this year. Hayes came up and was a bright spot in a lineup that is void of power. He leads the team in doubles this spring and has hit two home runs already this spring. For Hartlieb, he is trying to be an anchor in the back-end of the Pirates bullpen to help the Pirates win some more ballgames. Today, we look at the week that both of these players had and how they are going to impact the Pirates in 2021.
Hitter of the Week: Ke'Bryan Hayes
After bursting onto the scene in 2020, the Pittsburgh Pirates are looking for Ke'Bryan Hayes to once again be a spark in 2021. He has had a strong Spring Training so far hitting .433 with one home run and six RBI through 30 spring at-bats. He leads the Pirates with six doubles so far this spring and eight total extra-base hits. However, this week, he has been especially good hitting .375 with one home run, one double, and four RBI in five games played. He has made a home for himself in the number two spot in the Pirates order and will probably continue to hit there throughout the season.
He started the week going 0-3 but would record at least one hit in each of the next four games. On March 13th, he went 1-4 against the New York Yankees, with his only hit being a single. It was the first time all spring that Hayes had had four at-bats in a game as he played the entire game at third base. His hit came in his second at-bat after a Troy Stokes Jr. Home Run and an Adam Frazier single. However, he was left on base and the Pirates really was cut short. After a day off, Hayes was back in action on March 15th against the Baltimore Orioles when he went 2-3 with a home run and two RBI. It was Hayes who got the game started with a bang hitting a solo home run, his second of the spring. Hayes would drive in his second run of the game in his second at-bat when he had an RBI single scoring Frazier.
He finished out the week with two more performances where he drove in at least one run in the game. On March 17th, against the Tampa Bay Rays, it was Hayes that got the scoring started in what would be an offensive shootout. After the Rays scored three runs in the top of the first, Hayes came through and got the Pirates on the board in the bottom half of the inning. After Adam Frazier tripled to start the inning, Hayes wasted no time bringing him in on another RBI single. He would finish the day 1-2 with a walk and that RBI single. Hayes finished his strong week with a 2-4 effort against the Baltimore Orioles yesterday when he added two more doubles to his Spring stats. Hayes has been one of the most consistent hitters for the Pirates so far and is going to be a leader for the offense again this season.
Pitcher of the Week: Geoff Hartlieb
Ever since the new regime and pitching coach Oscar Marin has taken over, Geoff Hartlieb has done some of the best pitching of his career. His first outing of the week came on March 13th against the New York Yankees. After starter JT Brubaker gave up four earned runs over the first two innings of work, the Pirates bullpen came in and kept the Yankees off the board. After Richard Rodriguez and David Bednar each threw a scoreless inning, Hartlieb stepped in and made quick work of the Yankees. He started by striking out Brett Gardner and DJ LeMahieu on four pitches each. He then allowed a groundout to Aaron Judge to end the inning.
Hartlieb would then take a few days off and throw side sessions before getting back into a game on March 16th against the Minnesota Twins. After allowing a single and a double to start the inning, Hartlieb came back with a big strikeout to set down Miguel Sano on strikes for the first out of the inning. Then, he got a lineout by Mitch Garver and a walk would end up loading the bases. When Hartlieb looked to be in trouble, he would get a groundout by Andrelton Simmons to end the inning. He came back out in the seventh inning and got a groundout to end the inning and keep his scoreless spring going.
He made his final appearance of the week yesterday when he came in against the Baltimore Orioles. Hartlieb was one of the only pitchers who did not give up a run yesterday as he came in to start the eighth inning. Things didn't start out smoothly as he walked the first two batters he faced and had to go to work to keep his scoreless streak going. After a mound visit from Oscar Marin, Hartlieb responded and got a double play for the first two outs of the inning. There was then a runner on third with two outs and Hartlieb would end the inning with a four-pitch strikeout. Hartlieb looks to be a big part of the Pirates bullpen in 2021, as he looks for a role in the back-end of the Pirates bullpen.
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