Ke’Bryan Hayes Wins His First Rawlings® Gold Glove Award

11-5-23 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on X

Ke’Bryan Hayes has done enough to win the Rawlings Gold Glove award a few times now, and as wrong as it is, his bat finally made it palatable for the voters to give him what he earned.

I’m happy for him, and I’m also just as happy to know once they’ve bestowed it on a guy, so long as he remains up there, it’ll be just as hard to wrestle it away from him as it was Nolan Arenado.

We haven’t had a lot of reasons to cheer as Pirates fans since Ben Cherington took over and started breaking down and building back up the roster, but Ke’Bryan Hayes’ Glove has remained a constant source of awe, and exceptionalism.

This year, he clocked in with 21 Defensive Runs Saved.

The Pirates signed Ke’Bryan to a very friendly deal that keeps him here for under 8 million per year through 2029 with a very very likely to be exercised club option for 2030. It was a club friendly deal, but also a signal from the club that this young man’s steadying defense at the hot corner and potentially above average bat, were something they wanted to build this thing on.

He was the first to extend, the first to say out loud he saw the direction and he wanted to be part of it. They followed that by locking another piece up they felt fit well with the vision in Bryan Reynolds, and together they’ve been the direction.

This award must feel like validation for all the hard work. Proof that he wasn’t just great with the glove in the minors, but winning the award in the bigs, well, he probably won’t get noticed in Pittsburgh, he’ll probably not hit enough. All of that, is gone, right now.

I think in some ways, this whole fanbase has lived and died with this single award. His snubbing sent us to message boards to complain, and regale the baseball world with proof he was the best, and they were full of it.

So in many ways, Ke’ won this thing for all of us. Ok, that’s crap, it’s his, and only his, but man, we don’t get much, so here’s our first proof they’re breaking through.

Congrats Ke’Bryan, it’s been a blast to watch you do your thing over there.