This story was excerpted from Mark Sheldon's Reds Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
GOODYEAR, Ariz. – Easy plays or hard plays, Reds third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes usually made them, and he was as advertised after moving from the Pirates to the Reds at last summer's Trade Deadline. Even though his acquisition came during the 2025 season, Hayes was part of an offseason plan by the front office to upgrade the club defensively.
In a shock to no one, Hayes was rewarded with his second National League Gold Glove Award.
“Just wind him up, let him go play and hope they hit it to him," manager Terry Francona said. “He plays the [crap] out of third base. It’s fun to watch. It’s not luck.”
“I’m excited to have him behind me again. He makes every play," said new Reds reliever Kyle Nicolas, who played in Pittsburgh with Hayes.
Offensively, Hayes has gained a less-wanted reputation that he's striving to change. His .596 OPS over 152 games in 2025 was the second lowest in MLB among qualified hitters. On the advanced metrics side, he was rated way down by Statcast in expected batting average, expected slugging percentage, hard-hit percentage and more.
“Coming up, I always hit. Since I’ve been in the big leagues, I haven’t been fully healthy since when I debuted in 2020. Whenever I was healthy, I hit," Hayes said. "Sometimes it’s kind of annoying to only be looked at [for defense], but that’s for me to change that narrative with my play on the field.”
Hayes did produce well in 24 games during the shortened 2020 season, with a 1.124 OPS and five home runs in 24 games. His best full season was 2023, when he batted .271 with a .762 OPS and 15 homers. Last season, the 29-year-old batted .235 with five homers.
Trips to the injured list each season from 2021-24 – including a back injury that cost him the final six weeks of '24 – didn't help.
“The last couple of years of going on and off the IL, I was kind of trying to figure out what to do to stay on the field," Hayes said. "Last year, I was able to do that. I was able to move more attention this offseason to what I need to do to get better at the plate with my swing and stuff.”
Although the Reds have boosted their offense by signing free agent Eugenio Suárez – also a third baseman – while also banking on rookie Sal Stewart's bat for his first full season, mining more offense from Hayes will be important for both him and the club.
Hayes is cemented at third base. Suárez is expected to get the bulk of his at-bats as the designated hitter while also getting time at first and third.
During Spring Training, Hayes has been working on improving his timing and getting his contact point farther out front to get more lift and put the ball in the air. Last season, his ground ball rate of 49.0% was tied for 25th highest, and his pulled air rate of 8.4% was ninth lowest.
“He’s taking more aggressive swings earlier in the count," Francona said. "Sometimes some of these guys – which is kind of odd to say in our game today – their ability to make contact [hurts them]. Sometimes they make contact maybe too early and maybe not aggressive enough. He can end some at-bats quick just because of his ability to make contact. So just being able to drive the ball a little bit, I think, is good.
"Doesn’t mean you sell out, but you take a pitch and see if you can drive it and then go back to what you do.”
Hayes, who is on an eight-year, $70 million contract that runs through 2029, was viewed in the game as someone who could benefit from a change of scenery by departing Pittsburgh. Besides maintaining his defense, his OPS jumped nearly 100 points from .569 to .657 after the trade to Cincinnati.
A full Spring Training with his new team, getting comfortable and working with Reds hitting coach Chris Valaika lays the groundwork to potentially yield even more results.
“I like where my work is in the cage and working with all the hitting guys we have," said Hayes, who is batting .194 in 14 games this spring. "I’m obviously trying to get to the same goal. I’m excited for a full season over here."