Pirates 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes aggravates wrist injury, returns to Pittsburgh to see specialist

Ke’Bryan Hayes aggravated the left wrist injury that has caused the Pittsburgh Pirates rookie third baseman to miss 16 games and is returning to Pittsburgh to see a hand specialist to “come up with the best and most appropriate plan to return him to play.”

Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said Hayes reinjured the wrist while taking swings in a batting cage against a high velocity machine late Wednesday night in Detroit.

The Pirates hoped Hayes would return to the team sometime this week, with their plan to have him play in alternate training site games in Toledo on Tuesday and Wednesday. Both of those games were canceled because of snow, so the Pirates had Hayes come to Comerica Park.

“It’s in the same anatomical region. It’s the same spot,” Tomczyk said Thursday on a video conference call. “And he felt it on the same swing when he had to awkwardly hyperextend his wrist, as he did during the game in Chicago.”

Hayes initially injured his wrist in the second game of the season, in his first at-bat against the Chicago Cubs on April 3 at Wrigley Field. Hayes was checked by team trainer Rafael Freitas after experiencing more discomfort when he jammed his wrist on a slide back to first base. Hayes remained in the game to play third base until the third inning, when the Pirates pinch hit for him before his next at-bat.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton said the Pirates put Hayes through tests in preparation to activate him, only for Hayes to aggravate the injury. Shelton said Hayes was “obviously frustrated and disappointed” when they spoke Wednesday night and again Thursday morning, though the manager stressed a major point of emphasis is to trust the rehabilitation process.

“He was disappointed,” Shelton said. “I think the next step is finding out what we’re going to do, how we’re going to move forward and then address it that way. The main message for him was just stay positive. We’re 19 games into the season. Let’s stay positive. Let’s reassess and move on and see where we’re at.”

Tomczyk also said outfielder Jared Oliva, who was expected to join the Pirates on their taxi squad for their 10-day, nine-game road trip, instead will be out for a minimum of four weeks with a left internal oblique strain.

The injuries help explain the moves the Pirates made Wednesday, when they claimed outfielder Ka’ai Tom off waivers from the Oakland A’s and recalled infielder Rodolfo Castro from their alternate training site. Castro, a 21-year-old who had never played above Class A, started at third base in the second game of the doubleheader against the Tigers, going 0 for 3 at the plate in the 5-2 loss.