If you hold your nose and squint, you’ll find that Cincinnati Reds 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes has actually turned things around – a bit.
Though he owns just a .463 OPS for the entirety of the 2026 season, that’s ticked up to a .588 OPS since the start of the month of August. Over his most recent 13 games, he’s hit a robust (for him!) .241/.333/.345 in 33 PA, and he even drove in a run (himself) to up his season total to 8 RBI.
Small victories! Except, of course, these are the Cincinnati Reds we are talking
about, and the baseball gods long ago decided that the Reds cannot have nice things – even in small packages. On Friday prior to the start of their series against the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field, the Reds were forced to place Hayes back on the 10-day injured list, this time with a hamstring problem.
Infielder Edwin Arroyo was recalled.
It’s just the latest chapter in the terribly disappointing tenure Hayes has had with the Reds across just 13 months. It’s one that seemingly is destined to continue, though, as nothing he’s done so far – not the league-worst hitting, not the injuries – has been enough for the Reds to cut bait on him, and that’s obviously due to the ~$30 some million he’s still owed between now and 2030.
And if he’s made it this far – with this injury potentially nagging enough to cost him most of, if not all of the rest of what’s left of 2026 – it sure seems likely they’ll go ahead and see if they can fix him over the winter enough to put on a showing in 2027 that’s better than what we’ve seen from him so far. Even the ability to put up an OPS+ of 75, which would be a monumental improvement, would be passable given his defense at 3B.
You seem to agree, more so than I anticipated. It’s as if we’ve come to terms with how this front office operates despite the product it puts out continually being woefully sub-par. When asked earlier this week whether you, too, thought Hayes would still be the team’s de facto 3B to start 2027, 58% of respondents said ‘yes.’
Not the league-worst hitting, not the injury history that was long known still rearing its ugly head, not forcing Sal Stewart to switch positions, none of that has seemed to faze the Reds front office. They sought him out, brought him in, took on all the money, and over a year later still seem committed to the idea that somehow it’s all just going to change for the better for him at age 30.
Those are your Cincinnati Reds, after all.
MLB Reacts are brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook.
