On Thursday morning, Baseball America announced their top 20 list for the Gulf Coast League and Ke’Bryan Hayes is the lone Pirates’ representative, ranking ninth in the league. The GCL prospect class was called “loaded” by Ben Badler, who wrote that it’s the best collection of prospects the league has seen in a long time, so a top ten spot says a lot about how highly they rate Hayes.
Hayes batted .333/.434/.375 in 44 games for the GCL Pirates. He led the league in OBP, finished second in average and fifth in OPS. Hayes moved up to Morgantown and played 12 regular season games and all five playoff contests. The 18-year-old third baseman displayed strong defensive skills as well, so it wasn’t just the offense that got him ranked high. He was named our top prospect for the GCL Pirates.
Yesterday, BA announced the top 20 for the Appalachian League.