Hayes (back) the latest Pirate to land on IL

PITTSBURGH -- The injury bug continues to affect the black and gold.

Less than a week after the Pirates placed outfielder Bryan Reynolds on the injured list, Ke'Bryan Hayes landed on the 10-day IL (retroactive to Sunday) with lower back inflammation.

Infielder Jared Triolo, the Pirates’ No. 16 prospect per MLB Pipeline, was called up from Triple-A Indianapolis to take Hayes’s place on the active roster, the first callup of his Major League career.

“It had been bothering him, and he had been stiff and it just hadn’t gotten better,” manager Derek Shelton said. “It got to the point where we had to give it a little bit of a rest. He did some hitting yesterday and it just didn’t respond to it. We decided this morning it was the best case.”

Hayes, who leads the Pirates in games played (74), missed the Pirates’ past two games on Sunday and Tuesday before being placed on the injured list. Shelton said that Hayes will undergo treatment over the next couple days before resuming baseball activities.

Across 303 plate appearances this season, Hayes is slashing .254/.290/.397 with five home runs, eight steals and an 87 OPS+. Hayes is tied with the Rockies’ Ryan McMahon for the most defensive runs saved by a third baseman this season (10).

In 2022, Hayes played a career-high 136 games but dealt with a back issue all season, going on the 10-day injured list with a mid-muscle back strain in August and dealing with low back discomfort in September.

On June 22, the Pirates placed Reynolds on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to June 20) for his own case of lower back inflammation. Hayes and Reynolds could return before the end of the first half, and Shelton noted the team does not plan to rest them for the remainder of the half if they’re healthy.

"If they need extra days for their health, then they will get them,” Shelton said. “But when they're ready to come back, they'll come back."

Triolo learned that he was being called up to the Majors at around 1:30 in the morning when he received a call from Triple-A Indianapolis manager Miguel Perez. Triolo, who was right on the verge of falling asleep, had a suspicion that he was being called up given the timing. Those suspicions were, indeed, correct. After presumably getting a couple hours of rest, Triolo drove from Indianapolis to Pittsburgh around nine in the morning.

“There was definitely a period where no music was being played,” Triolo said. “The thoughts were going wild. All just exciting stuff. Just really excited.”

Triolo underwent surgery to repair a fractured left hamate in April before returning to game action. In 37 games with Triple-A Indianapolis, Triolo slashed .293/.403/.436 with one home run, eight steals and a 117 wRC+. In June, Triolo slashed .315/.400/.507 with a 128 wRC+ across 85 plate appearances.

“When I first got the surgery, people were telling me it was going to stay with me for a while,” Triolo said. “There was a point where it went away, and it wasn’t even a thought anymore. It’s been good so far. Knock on wood, but it’s been good.”

Added Shelton, “When you take something like that, you have to be in constant communication of how much work you're doing because of the fact that it's something that can linger. From all the reports we got on Jared, he's in a pretty good spot and he's been able to manage it, but it is something you monitor."

Triolo stands to primarily play third base with Hayes out, but Shelton cited Triolo’s ability to play around the diamond. Triolo is a primary third baseman -- he won a Minor League Gold Glove at third base in 2021 -- but Triolo has spent time at first base (one game), second base (two games), shortstop (32 games) and center field (seven games) over the past two seasons.

“He’s a guy that’s a natural third baseman, has played short, has played second, has moved into the outfield,” Shelton said. “He’s done all of them without any noticeable transition. When you have a guy that’s that versatile defensively and then really good at a primary position where we have a guy that’s really good that went down. It’s nice to have that.”